


Piecing Together

by VelvetSky



Series: Complications [4]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Comic Book Ties, Complicated Relationships, F/M, Fluff, Light Angst, pre-Bucky Barnes/Darcy Lewis/Steve Rogers, strange happenings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-06
Updated: 2020-02-21
Packaged: 2020-02-27 01:03:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 26,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18728518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VelvetSky/pseuds/VelvetSky
Summary: Everyone is trying to put the pieces together on what has been happening. While Steve and the Avengers are trying to figure out what happened on Halloween and what's going on with Jane's research, Bucky settles into his own mind. And Darcy has a lot of down time.





	1. Checking In

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so first I'm sorry this took so long. And also FYI, at this time, I am still working on the ending of this part, but I've got about 13 chapters already finished. I'm not sure of posting frequency, maybe once a week and hopefully I'll get the rest done in that time. Chapter lengths are variable. 
> 
> Unbetaed, all mistakes are my own. 
> 
> This series will be pulling in some threads from Comic land, and twisting them to my own accord, as well as cherry-pick from MCU canon. Timing of this series takes off from canon post Winter Soldier and goes off on it's merry way from there.

"Anything from the footage?" Steve asked, stepping just inside the doorway between the lab where Bucky was having a physical assessment with Dr. Cho, and the space where Tony was tinkering with something while looking over some of Jarvis' information from Halloween.

"The only thing I could notice was a bit of static for a second shortly after the arrival of the first several guests. All of those guests are accounted for by Jarvis as to their identities. I do have Jarvis looking closer into that static, in case it was covering something. Which given the system, could be, Jarvis isn't known for hiccups in footage." Tony wasn't sure it was something, but it did strike him as unlikely with Jarvis. But it was a very short blip, just a few frames, a second at most.

"Nothing else? No one behaving strangely?" Steve wanted to know about Darcy, about how long they spoke, if they went anywhere together, and where they each went after they left the party, and when that was. He didn't want to just ask Tony though, he still really hadn't told or admitted to anyone, other than Sam, how he felt about Darcy. He just didn't want people meddling, and if Tony or Natasha or Clint knew, they'd probably meddle. Thor might have also, Steve wasn't sure.

"Not that I could tell. I did notice where Bruce looked a little on edge, early in the night and then left. Otherwise, everything seemed pretty normal for a party. If anything I'd say people were lighter than average on the drinking, especially since it was an open bar." Tony paused a moment. Steve waited to speak, as it appeared Tony was having a thought. "Jarvis, can you tally how much each party goer drank, to the best of your assessments, and check it against past parties if you can. Take your time with it."

"I will check the data. Give me a few minutes, sir." The AI responded.

"You think I could have a look through the footage at some point too? I'm just curious. Kind of curious to see what I did all night." Steve was interested in the results Jarvis might have about the drinking as well.

"Sure, you can sit there, or any other terminal in the labs, or your room, and Jarvis will give you access to the files. I think you left a bit on the early side also." Tony had done the looking himself simply because it was something he could spend some time doing, and it was his system and building. But anyone of them who wanted to review logs or footage was free to do so.

"Sir? It would appear that no one had more than three drinks that night. I checked the last gathering you hosted at the end of summer, and there was significantly more alcohol consumed by a significant number of guests at that gathering." Jarvis explained plainly.

"Well, that sounds a little strange to me." Tony tapped his fingers.

Steve wanted to check the footage, but he didn't rush to do it. "That does seem slightly strange, given I recall the last party ending with several highly drunk folks."

"I know how to throw a good party." Tony smiled a moment before pausing whatever he was tinkering with to more closely examine some of Jarvis' statistics.

Steve half chuckled for just a moment at Tony's comment. "I'm going to go check back on Bucky, but I'm going to have a look through all the footage and info also. Maybe I can tell if anything seemed off with me or Sam or something that night." Or Darcy, but he wasn't saying that out loud. Tony nodded at him, and Steve headed back to check on Bucky and Dr. Cho.


	2. Working Out

Once progress was made with Bucky, Tony let Rhodey in on the situation as well. He was concerned at first but quickly saw the progress and results. Though Rhodey did suggest, and Maria backed up, that after all the tests were done, and Bucky was no longer triggerable, and could begin being just a person again, that he do so not at the Tower, at least for a while. The Tower was pretty high profile, there were frequently fans and groupies who lurked outside, or in the ground floor lobby, hoping to get an autograph or picture with a real Avenger. Probably didn't help there was a merchandise shop down there also. And while the media didn't camp out there, they moved awful fast whenever there was anything that even smelled like news or something strange at The Tower. Plus, while the actual Avengers and their core support staff wouldn't divulge any information, there were a lot of other people who worked in the building, and if they lifted the restricted access, and let Bucky try to live normal from the Tower, it was likely someone would see him, and possibly gossip to the wrong person.

Bucky passed his triggers test. They'd locked him in The Room, which was made for Hulk, and Natasha had read off his trigger sequence. He had been so nervous. He'd paced the room, and had Thor watching him like a hawk. The feeling had been, if the trigger did still work, and he tried anything, Thor would be able to subdue him with more ease than anyone else. Fortunately, Bucky hadn't found out just how strong Thor was, because the Winter Soldier was not triggered. After a follow-up exam, Bucky was told he could relax the rest of the day. It was early afternoon, so Steve took him down to the gym, on the 81st floor, to work out and burn off some stress. Bucky was stressed from the tests. Steve was stressed from whatever this Halloween thing was, that Bucky still didn't quite understand.

Being in the gym, that one in particular, did bring up thoughts of Darcy, for Steve, but he was trying to keep that to the side. There was so much else going on, he just had to hope that he'd hear from her sometime about wanting to work out again. And maybe if he figured out what happened at Halloween, he'd feel like he could maybe work out what he wasn't remembering about it. Like what he might have talked to her about. It felt too strange to just ask her about it when he didn't remember, and it also seemed weird to talk to her while not knowing what had been said.

Bucky was still getting his senses back, but little memories did seem to be drifting back daily, especially since Steve had found him and brought him back. He could tell Steve's mind was wrapped up with something, or maybe several other things, not just his recovery. He didn't say anything at first. They got going lifting some weights before Bucky spoke. "Hey, Steve? Are you okay? Because, maybe I'm all wrong, my brain is still pretty scrambled, but you seem a little distant at times."

Steve paused his reps and looked over at Bucky. "Yeah, I mean, I'm worried about you recovering. I kind of wish you could just stay here, or that I could come with you, make sure you're alright. And then there's some Avengers stuff that's kind of stressful, I guess."

Bucky stopped his lifting also and sat up straight, "I'll manage on my own. Even though I do wish we could hang out more while I'm piecing things back together. What about this Halloween thing though? You said something the other day about not remembering?"

Steve hadn't elaborated on it, but Bucky had continued to worry about what that meant. Steve sighed softly, "Yeah, I'm not sure what happened that night. Tony had a party here, and besides arriving, getting a drink at the bar, and spotting Sam, I don't recall the rest of the night, or the next morning for that matter. The next memory I have is of Sam standing in my office, snapping me out of some kind of haze, and telling me that Nat had spotted you. And since we started asking around, it sounds like most of the people we know had some kind of strange experience that evening. There's still a lot of people for us to contact from the party, but the people we have, everyone at least woke up feeling kind of fuzzy or off, like they'd drank too much or something, though most of them report not drinking that much alcohol. A couple have said they felt like they had patchy memories of the night. And of course, you heard Bruce felt agitated. Something happened, but we aren't sure what."

"That definitely sounds like something strange. What could do that kind of thing? Does it have to do with whatever Thor was talking about?" Bucky obviously knew, there were ways to mess up someone's mind and memories. And ways to put new thoughts and information there. Though something acting on a whole party full of people was strange, and kind of scary.

"Thor suggested there's some other energy spikes, things often associated with travel between realms. That maybe- " Steve couldn't claim to begin to understand the science of it all. He just knew Tony and Bruce had started calling Jane daily for updates on her research, and were starting to do their own.

"Wait, what?" Bucky could recall a number of things from his time as the Winter Soldier, including how some technologies worked, things like that. But the existence of other realms was new information.

"Yeah, there's different realms." Steve shook his head a little, sometimes it seemed a little wild even to him, even after things like the Chitauri.

"Like other worlds, science fiction, kind of stuff?" Bucky's eyebrows were up, and Steve could see, along with the shock, there was some fascination in his friend's eyes. Bucky had always loved science and technology and imagining things beyond their world.

"Only it's not fiction. Thor is from one of those other realms. So, there are some ideas that there's a connection, but we don't know what it is, yet." Steve did hope some real answers would come sooner, rather than later. Now that everyone was turning their focus toward it, and Jane had gone to do some more intensive research on the energy spikes, or whatever else it was.

"People not remembering things is troubling, but the other realms thing sounds cool." Having met Thor, Bucky figured other realms couldn't be all bad since Thor had seemed nice.

"It is, on both counts." Steve was about to resume his reps when he looked back at Bucky laying back to do the same. "Are you really okay to move into some apartment and be by yourself for the next few weeks?"

Bucky had laid back, but not lifted the bar yet. He nodded at Steve, "I'll be okay. I was managing alone until you found me, I'll be alright for a while until we can visit and check in. I figure I can spend some time seeing what New York is like now. It's been a while. Maybe it'll help jog some memories."

"A lot has changed, there are a few things, old facades, that still looked familiar when I woke up. It was nice to see." Steve felt like he had so many other things he wanted to say. Part of him was desperate to share other things with his best friend. Perhaps more so than he ever had when they were young. Though Bucky had always ultimately gotten him to talk anyway, even when Steve was trying to keep a stiff upper lip. Bucky had always been able to see right through any defense Steve attempted to put up. But, Steve knew Bucky was just starting to gain a better hold on himself, and a life free from Hydra, and he didn't need to be carrying any of Steve's excess baggage along with his own.

"So, I'll be fine. There's probably plenty of things for me to see and do. Lots of things about the present and the past that I never learned because it wasn't relevant to the Winter Soldier missions." Bucky was working on speaking of those things he'd had to do, as things the Winter Soldier did. The psychiatrist he'd worked with the last week and a half had suggested it as a means to try to help his feelings of guilt. It wasn't him, Bucky, who did those things, it was the Hydra weapon, known as the Winter Soldier, that was programmed to do those things. He was trying, but he still felt responsible.

Steve nodded, quiet for a long moment before they both resumed their workout.


	3. That Other Guy

The work deprogramming Bucky had gone remarkably well with so many geniuses on the case. Just two weeks after Steve found him, Bucky was cleared. Bucky had one last scan and check, after passing his triggers test. Usually, Steve was sitting in the room when Bucky got his scans with the doctors, but today Steve had gone to make some calls and check into some info about whatever mystery was surrounding whatever happened at Halloween. Bucky still hadn't quite worked out what was happening, Steve seemed confused by it, but Bucky could tell he was holding things back. He supposed he understood why, so Bucky was leaving it alone for now.

Bucky waited only a few minutes before Bruce came into the room. "No Steve?"

"No Steve. He's looking into something about Halloween." Bucky had his hands jammed between his knees as he tried to stay still until everything was done.

"Right." Bruce nodded, pulling up some computer readouts and readying the scanner. "Are you looking forward to this move?"

Bucky had spent over a week being examined repeatedly, daily, by Bruce, but they hadn't really talked much. Bucky never said much to anyone other than Steve. And usually there were the other doctors, or at least Tony around for these things, and Steve of course, and they would all talk sometimes, but he would just sit. "Um, I guess."

"Nervous?" Bruce started scanning and checking the readings as he did. He was doing a full physical scan, mind and body.

"Yeah, a bit." Bucky's flesh finger was tapping on his metal one, the only movement he was making.

"I get it. But I really do think you are in the clear with the triggers. No one can say any words that will turn you into the Winter Soldier. Although, obviously, just because there's no trigger words, doesn't make the mess in your head much better." The scans were fairly quick, and Bruce paused to just look Bucky in the eye.

"How do you deal with it? With the Hulk? I imagine it's a weird feeling, this other character kind of looming in there." Bucky had been listening the whole time he was sitting getting examined, and he'd caught enough to know, if anyone in that building could relate to having someone else inside you, doing things you had no control of, it might be Bruce.

"It is. Is that what the Winter Soldier is to you?" Bruce sat down on a lab chair next to the exam table. He wasn't a therapist, usually, Bruce tried to avoid taking on other people's troubles, he had enough of his own baggage, but he saw in Bucky's situation, perhaps someone who could halfway appreciate just what it was like to feel like your mind and body wasn't completely your own.

"A little. Even if that part can't just wake up anymore, the shadow of it is still there. My memories for most everything is kind of jumbled, but the one thing I do remember, the names and faces of every person I killed." His stare went past Bruce to the wall, as yet again every face flashed through his mind.

"The Winter Soldier, it wasn't really you." Bruce could see that distinction, and Bucky did know that in his mind somewhere, but sometimes it was hard to believe.

"Yeah, but I was still there, I still watched it, I still felt it. And I couldn't do a thing to stop it." Why the moments when he had been buried deep in the programming, killing on command like he was a robot, a weapon, those were the clearest memories. Perhaps because they were so intense, and because the only thing Bucky, the real Bucky, could do in those moments was watch as his body, as the programming in his body took someone's life.

"That's a hard thing to live with, I do know that. For me, The Hulk is always there, and he could always wake up. Most of the time, I have a pretty good handle on the other guy. But there are times when I can feel my grasp slipping, where I am not the one holding the reigns anymore and there's nothing I can do to stop whatever happens next. And that is scary, even when I turn the Hulk loose on purpose, because going the other way, isn't as easy, I don't have any control or memory until The Hulk has gone. I do a lot of meditating. I took up yoga. I read a lot of philosophy. And I keep busy with work. When I'm turning equations, my mind is busy and less likely to get pulled into the other guy." Bruce didn't try to tell Bucky it wasn't his fault or wasn't really him again, because he knew how hollow those words felt. Even if it was the other guy, he always felt responsible, and he could see Bucky felt the same way. But maybe he could help give him the tools to make some kind of peace with it.

Bucky just nodded for a couple of moments before looking at Bruce, eye contact was something that didn't come easy to him anymore. Though he thought it probably used to. "Meditation, yoga, philosophy. I can look into those."

"If you want, I've got a couple books on meditation I could give you. If you're interested. Everyone has to find their own way of coping. But it might help." He shrugged a little, with the smallest twinge of a smile.

"If it's not a book you still need, I'd really appreciate that. Anything that was at all helpful for you, I figure is worth trying." There was a little twitch at the corner of Bucky's mouth, that for a moment resembled something like a smile. If it was something that helped Bruce keep a 'most of the time' hold on The Hulk, then it might help Bucky make some peace with the ghost of the Winter Soldier that lurked in his head.

"There's a couple that I liked enough, I picked up second copies of, so I can part with a copy." Bruce shrugged slightly, his hands resting in his lap.

"Thanks." Bucky nodded, shifting just a little, not sure if that was the end, and was Bruce's way of letting him know he could, or should, go.

Bruce didn't get up to move, though the scans were complete. "Sure. Is there anything else you think you could use? I know I'd feel anxious doing what you are about to."

"I don't know, I guess I'm getting a computer so I can explore the internet. I seem to have some memory for using technologies that probably was in my programming for missions. But I'd be curious about what I may have missed and what might be current in science." Bucky had some kind of basic knowledge of working technology, but at the same time, he wasn't really sure how all this information was presented.

"You like science?" Bruce tried not to look surprised, but he somehow felt surprised and thought it probably showed.

Bucky noticed but didn't wonder. "I do. I'll never understand it the way you all do, but if there's something that is maybe written for regular people to read and learn from."

"I can send you some links to websites, and get you a book or magazine probably. Tony said he was going to get you up to speed on using the internet, since I guess he's got a fake job for you also, working from home." Bruce finally stood up again, processing the scans and having the computer file them.

"Steve said, doing something online. I assume I can learn enough in a few days to fake it around anyone that asks." It was another thing Bucky was worried about. But he tried to just nod and assume he'd figure it out easy enough. It wasn't the being alone, or on his own, that worried him, it was everything else.

"That's the idea, yeah. Tony should be ready to get started on that in a little bit, he said to send you to his office when we were done, so you can head over there whenever you want. I'll see what I can find for you, in the way of books on science." Bruce nodded.

"Thanks, again." Bucky nodded with another twinge of a smile before he left to head over to Tony's office.


	4. A Text

After a week of no work, Darcy had done a lot of reading, a bit of exploring her neighborhood, and some cooking, among a few other things around her apartment. She was hanging around at home more than anything else, though that morning she did finally venture out to the Winter Market in Bryant Park that she'd heard about. It was pretty cool. Going there was just like taking the train to work, except she walked out of Grand Central and headed a few blocks west to the park, instead up heading up into the Tower. Sitting at a little table drinking a hot chocolate and munching on some really awesome food from one of the kiosks her phone buzzed. A text message from Steve. She was definitely curious about it since it had been two weeks since she'd seen or heard from him.

"Hey, Darcy. I'm asking around to people who attended the Halloween Party if they recall seeing or noticing anything odd that evening or the next morning. We've gotten several reports of people waking up feeling a little fuzzy even when they hadn't had much, or anything, alcoholic to drink the night before. Some people have also reported feeling otherwise off that night, and even some memory issues. I don't really remember the night at all. Sam said he thought he saw us talking, do you remember if I said or did anything strange?" Darcy's brow furrowed and she, for a moment, pondered walking back over to The Tower and talking to him. But she also had a lot of little questions ringing in her head.

"I didn't think anything was strange at the time. I did wake up feeling kind of fuzzy, but I don't remember drinking that much. You don't remember anything? We did talk for a while, at least if I'm remembering the night correctly. Cause Halloween and the next day definitely felt pretty strange." That didn't make Darcy feel any more sure of if she recalled the night correctly or not, nor was she sure she should mention anything he'd said to her. Maybe it was strange because maybe he wouldn't have said any of those things if whatever was happening hadn't been happening. After that sleeping with her eyes open thing at the lab and the subsequent strange dreams she was having, she was questioning everything. Maybe it was also strange because maybe he'd merely made small talk with her at the party and she'd imagined everything else.

"I remember arriving to the party and going for a drink, seeing Sam there, and that's about it. I'm not really even sure what Sam said to me that night, I just recall seeing him. Everything is kind of blank until the next morning." Darcy read the text, wondering if that meant that he'd woken up fuzzy but when he did, he didn't notice anything weird. Maybe she had dreamt the rest of the night. Maybe she'd blacked out on memory too, and her brain had simply supplied her with some dreams to replace them. Even with her spotty at best recall for her dreams prior to Halloween, she knew she'd had a couple of dreams that featured Steve. And given the weird dreams she'd started having, about a place she'd never even seen, a sex dream about Steve seemed pretty normal. It wasn't like her recall of that night was perfect, especially as it wore on. She was into Steve, she wanted Steve, she maybe loved him, but she wasn't sure that would have equaled having sex that night. Not without some kind of conversation over the matter, and she didn't remember any such thing. All Darcy's mind could play for her was going from making out on a couch to in bed. She'd never had sex before, things didn't get that heavy with Ian after three months together, mostly because of her. And she wondered if that wasn't why he'd felt like he was drifting on her at the end, before she left to come back to the States, with Jane. And while she certainly did feel more strongly about Steve, she wasn't sure it would have meant just jumping into bed with him. She felt very confused.

"That night definitely felt weird to me, but I'm not sure why. I'm not sure if I really recall everything right, or if maybe I just filled in some gaps with something I dreamt or something." Darcy took a long drink from her hot chocolate, letting the warmth momentarily soothe the creeping nerves she had.

"That definitely sounds like it qualifies as strange. Bruce told me to ask for some details from everyone, like how much you remember drinking, and what you drank. Would you say you feel like you maybe don't recall parts of the night? Do you feel alright now?" Was he worried about her, or was that just one of Bruce's data collection questions? She wasn't sure, she wished she could see Steve's face while he asked. Then maybe it would tell her something.

"I had one cocktail, that I remember. And I'm not certain I even finished it. I'm honestly not sure what I remember and what might have been a dream or something now. It seems like things just keep getting stranger. Physically I feel okay though." She hit send, and then after a minute or two of nothing, she sent another, "maybe I could come by and we could talk about it more? I'm curious about what's going on, about what other people have felt about that night?"

It was another minute or two before the reply came, "I really can't right now, things are a little crazy. And I thought Jane was away doing research? But if there's anything else you can think of, that you recall, or might be useful, text me and let me know."

"Oh, okay. Jane is, but it's all classified or something, so I didn't qualify for clearance. I'll let you know if I think of anything else about the night." Darcy sighed and sniffled, and she knew it wasn't just from the chilly November air.

Then her phone buzzed again, "I do want to talk to you sometime. I'm just not sure when I'll have free time. But maybe in a few weeks, we could hit the gym again, or try crossing something off my list. If you want. I can text you or something when some of this mess has calmed down."

"Sure, that would be good." Darcy still had to wipe her eyes, only now she was unsure if it was a one-hundred percent sad tear, or something a little more bittersweet. At least he still wanted to be her friend, she hoped.


	5. Reviewing and Catching Up

Bucky was having the last face to face appointment with the psychiatrist that Tony had brought in. Once he was out of the Tower, he would have the psychiatrist's number in case he needed it. Though Bucky had already said he wasn't sure if he'd want or need to talk to them after. Not that he felt all good, just it felt weird talking to a stranger. Steve understood, and told Bucky, he could text or call him any time, instead. Steve was happy Bucky had made such progress, but he also hated that it meant he would not be able to see him again for a couple of weeks. Even though Steve knew he had a bunch of stuff to do, trying to sort out this Halloween thing, which looked more and more to be tied into whatever Thor and Jane had been following. Jane had found there was a decided spike in energy, as well as some kind of disturbance around the City on Halloween night. The closest she could get was a couple hours window since it had been data collected while she wasn't monitoring her equipment, or extrapolated from some other means. Steve didn't understand most of the lingo the scientists used. But the time frame of the disturbance was around the same time as the early part of the party. Tony had started wondering if that was why there was a moment of static on the footage.

While Bucky was at his appointment, Steve took the time to sit down with Jarvis' footage from Halloween. Using the computer in his and Bucky's temporary room, Steve followed himself through the footage, arriving, getting stopped by a multitude of people before getting a drink at the bar. Shortly after he'd stopped and talked to Sam for a little bit before they went off in different directions. Steve had asked Sam the other day what they'd talked about, Sam said he wasn't sure anymore, but he felt like it was Darcy they'd talked about. For a while, Steve watched himself wander about the party, trying to avoid long interactions with people, and then he spotted her. Steve watching the footage, and Steve in the footage. Steve in the footage had made his way over. They had seemed to stand close, they chatted for a little while, and then parted in different directions. Steve still didn't know what they talked about, Jarvis could only discern some conversations in the night's footage for anyone.

Steve watched the whole party through a couple times, trying to find anything unusual, and track where people came and went to. It appeared he had left the party shortly after talking to Darcy, before midnight. "Jarvis? Where did I go when I left the Halloween party? Did I talk to anyone else?"

"It would appear you went back to your room. You did not talk to anyone along the way."

"What about once I was home? Can you tell if I did anything strange or notable?" Steve scratched his head, still trying to recall those gaps in his mind.

"My sensor records indicate you were awake in your living and kitchen area for perhaps an hour, then it would seem you retired to bed, Captain Rogers."

"I saw Banner left before eleven. He said he went up to The Room. Can you confirm that?"

"Yes, Captain. Dr. Banner was awake for several hours in The Room before finally falling asleep. He woke late in the morning the next day and went to work."

"Do you mind if we run through most of our key members, when they left, where they went?"

"Of course not. Mr. Stark and Miss Potts were at the party socializing and dancing until just after 2am, they retired to their room. Sleep was not immediate." Steve smiled a little at that as Jarvis continued. "Colonel Rhodes had a couple of beers, told the same three stories to dozens of people, danced for a while with Miss Hill, and departed The Tower around 1am."

"Wait, Jarvis, you said you couldn't pick up most of what anyone said. Did you hear the stories?"

"Yes, Captain Rogers. One of the few things I was able to discern being said during the night were Colonel Rhodes' stories."

That made Steve chuckle a little, "alright, continue, please."

"Very well. Miss Hill had three drinks during the night, and after Colonel Rhodes departed, she spent most of the rest of the evening joking with Mr. Barton, who previously had been playing darts and shooting pool, chatting with an assortment of others during the party. They were among the last to head home, both retiring to their respective rooms after 3am."

When Jarvis seemed to pause there, Steve figured he'd prompt for more people. "What about Sam? What did he do after I spoke to him that night?"

"Mr. Wilson was very sociable. He had two beers, played pool, and went home around 2am."

"And how about Jane and Erik?"

"Dr. Foster spoke a little while to Dr. Selvig, but left not long after Dr. Banner, before 11pm. Dr. Selvig remained, had a drink, socialized, before heading to bed just after 1am."

Steve paused, clearing his throat, "And what about Darcy?"

"Miss Lewis chatted and socialized for a bit, got a drink, and appeared to be people watching before you spoke to her. Then she headed into the crowd and then to bed."

"Do you know what we said? Can you work out any of our conversation?" Steve desperately wanted to know what was said.

There was a long pause, nearly a full minute before Jarvis responded, "I can not. I am sorry, Captain Rogers."

Steve sat a moment thinking, wondering what exactly Darcy did the rest of the night. Before he could ask Jarvis though, his door chimed. "Jarvis, save all this for later and unlock the door, please."

"Certainly."

When the door unlocked and opened, Bucky came in. "Hey. If I'm interrupting anything, I can go to the gym or something."

"No, no, I just didn't want other interruptions, so I locked the door." Steve had been sitting forward at the computer but leaned back into the chair as Bucky closed the door and sat down on his bed.

"Are you really okay, Steve? Some days, I don't know, you look almost as messed up as me." Bucky was still piecing things together, but one of the things he seemed to be able to do already, or still, was see right through Steve. It had always been like that. Steve remembered clearly, though Bucky only had a feeling that was how it had worked.

"I don't know, Buck. There's a lot going on. I am here for you, for anything you need though, okay. I can handle it." Steve straightened up again, his posture firm.

"I'm not worried about that, I mean, I'm worried about you, shouldering everything. You always did that, I remember that much. I'm just, I am here too. I know I'm a mess, but if I can help you, I will." Bucky shook his head, glancing to the floor a moment before looking back over at Steve.

There was a weak, sad smile on Steve's face, and he snickered slightly. "See, I knew the Bucky I knew was still in there somewhere among the rest. Right now, the best thing you can do for me is to keep getting better. Keep finding yourself, and who you are now." Steve took a deep inhale and let it out before continuing, "Because I do need you. No one else can read me quite the way you do. There maybe are things, that I wish I could tell someone, but I just can't unload that right now."

Bucky nodded, his hands flexing and squeezing against the edge of the bed. He worried that he'd made a bigger mess for Steve here. Everyone had been really nice, but Bucky couldn't help remembering that Thor hadn't even been told he was here, that they'd apparently locked down the upper floors from everyone except a few select people. All because of him. It seemed like a lot of work, effort, and headache, for him. He still wasn't sure he was worth it.

Steve had been staring off out the window, only once there was a long silence, did he look over at Bucky again, seeing him staring at the floor. "Are you really sure you're ready to go? Because I could probably see about having you stay a little longer."

Bucky looked up and shook his head. "No, I need to keep moving forward. And figuring this out is the next step. The psychiatrist even mentioned it. So, they all think I'm ready."

"But do you think you're ready?" Steve understood the whys of having Bucky move somewhere, away from The Tower, and why he couldn't move with him. The idea was so no one would notice Bucky was anything other than some random guy. And Bucky could take the time to try to heal some more, without press or the government or anyone else prodding into things or trying to control anything. But Steve really, really hated that he wouldn't see Bucky for a few weeks. That he'd only be able to text him for the most part. Steve was glad for that much, but it didn't stop him from worrying. He didn't want Bucky to slip further, to struggle more than he already was.

"I'll be alright, Steve." Bucky's definition of alright in this situation probably wasn't what other people's might be. But, he did figure he'd get by. And maybe being alone with his thoughts would help. He'd been doing okay before Steve found him, starting to organize the pieces he could remember. The last couple weeks, he'd been remembering a lot more little things. Hopefully, that would continue, even without Steve around.

"I do want to help you. And I want to tell you what's going on. But I don't want it cluttering up your healing process right now. Especially when I've got a bunch of questions myself on just what's happening." The last thing Steve wanted was to let down his best friend, to leave him hanging to fend for himself when he was hurting. And while Steve may not have always caught Bucky's pain the way Bucky seemed to see his, he still knew his friend was not exactly okay by any stretch of the word.

"I know, and you are. Far more than I ever expected." Bucky's gaze shifted from Steve to the windows. "I guess I can't help worrying about you. I heard enough bits and pieces of whatever is going on around here that doesn't have to do with me, to be concerned. Beings from other realms who have maybe gone rogue, and are possibly messing with you, and your friends. I know you're strong now, Steve. But that sounds like a lot even for you, and all your friends."

Steve let out a sigh, the fact that Bucky worried about him still, it was warmer on his heart than he'd expected. "I know it does. And I am worried about just what we're possibly coming up against. Thor at least thinks he's narrowing the field on who might be behind what's happening. And he doesn't think his remaining candidates want to kill people. Of course, they might also not be bothered by casualties. He thinks his top choices all are more the 'want to rule over all' sorts." Steve knew that could still be trouble, given Thor said he'd have put Loki in that category, and Loki trying to take over Earth had been a bit of a disaster.

"I guess that's something, at least they probably aren't aiming to kill everyone." Bucky half snickered, and Steve did the same. The two half smiled at each other. "Will you tell me though, if there is actually anything useful I can do to help you and your friends?"

"If it seems like we could use an extra hand, I'll let you know. And I will text you, as often as I can. Hopefully every day, as long as I'm not mid-chase on something. I'll keep you updated on everything." Steve smiled a little more at the nod Bucky gave him. "And please let me know how you're doing. Speaking of which, how have the computer lessons with Tony been?"

"Even if I don't hear from you, I'll text you once a day to just let you know how I'm doing. As for the lessons, he said I picked up enough to actually do the job I'm pretending to be doing, in case anyone asks me. There are definitely strange fragments of things Hydra taught me for missions that I keep remembering. I guess the Winter Soldier had needed to know some computer hacking at one point in time." Bucky didn't recall all the details of the missions he'd done, the only clear recalls from his time as The Winter Soldier, were the names and faces of the people he killed.

"That would be good. I might be out of the Tower after you leave, but there will be someone here to keep tabs. Probably will be Sam, since he isn't really an Avenger yet, he just helps me. Tony and I are still debating just who should know where you are. We think it's safer the less people who know." Steve was being cautious. He did think that with enough time and work, and collective assurances from professionals, that Bucky could be allowed to be totally free, to choose whatever he wanted to do. They just had to show that the Winter Soldier, the assassin for Hydra, was no longer in there.

It was things like that, that made Bucky a little uneasy. That his location had to be so secret. It made him worry that he would never be truly allowed to be free. That someone would always be controlling him and his choices. He just nodded though.


	6. Moved In

The location chosen for Bucky to live was also restricted to very few people, Steve, Sam, Tony, and Natasha. The others only knew he had left the Tower. Many of Tony's business ventures were large and well known, but he also owned a good deal of real estate all over, and most of that was not common public knowledge, including several apartment buildings around New York City. There were a couple with vacancies that Tony could easily slip Bucky into. They were very average buildings, that were not known by many to even be properties of Tony Stark, even the building manager didn't know who the owner was, they only dealt with a property management firm, so it would be low profile.

Some basic furnishings and boxes with things like clothes, dishware, pots, bathroom essentials, and some assorted decorative items were also included. Bucky arrived at the apartment Monday evening. Sunday afternoon he'd gotten on a Quinjet with Steve and they headed up to an old warehouse facility of Stark's upstate where there was plenty of room to land, and no one around to notice or care who got out of it. They said their partings there, as Steve probably wouldn't actually see him for a couple of weeks. Everyone thought it best that there wasn't too much meeting up to avoid anyone noticing. Tony had gotten a motorcycle shipped up to the warehouse, which Bucky had the keys to. And Bucky could use it for transportation whenever, and particularly could get from there back into the City on his own, where he would head to the apartment in the Bronx that Tony had set up for him.

Steve had given him some cash, and Tony gave him a phone, as well as an assortment of false identification and a credit card he could use. He was told he'd have a computer, as well. Unlike when Steve woke up from the ice, Bucky had used technology at times over the years, though only when needed for a mission. But he knew his way around a computer and communications equipment even before anyone gave him a lesson on it. It made the couple of lessons Tony gave him on things he'd need to know much easier. Tony had been prepared to have to show him how to turn on a computer, but Bucky already knew those things. There were a few things about web design he had to learn for his cover, and then Tony had started showing him some more advanced computer programing things. It made Bucky feel more confident about his cover, that was for sure. And since nearly the first thing the little old lady on the second floor had asked him was what he did, it was nice to feel like if she asked for help with a computer, he knew how to do so.

When his phone buzzed with a text, he had no trouble. It was from Steve, of course. "Hey, Buck. Most of the team is following some leads, but Sam is here in case anything goes weird for you, he'll come help. I'll check in when I can."

"Alright, no problem." He was nervous, the whole situation had his anxiety up, but he'd handle it. He doubted he'd need to call anyone for anything.

"I know I worried, but I know you can do this. And if you need help, text me, or call the Tower line I gave you, and Sam will help you." Bucky chuckled, he and Sam perhaps hadn't had the best introduction, but he did respect the guy. Sam was obviously a good friend to Steve, and if nothing else, that put Sam in pretty good standing, in Bucky's book.

"Thanks, I think I can. The place seems nice. Bigger than that place you grew up in." Bucky's home hadn't been especially big growing up either, but it did have one more room than Steve's had, and than this apartment had, which was needed with his parents, himself, and three sisters.

"That's good. Tony said it's very average, but that it had been renovated in the 90s, and everything worked well." Bucky hadn't really unpacked anything, as yet, but he had walked through the place, checking out everything. It was nicer than anything he remembered having in his life, so it was pretty damn good.

"It's nice by my standards, so no complaints. The bed is really soft." He barely recalled the bed of his youth, but it was certainly nothing like the one in the apartment.

"Yeah, beds have changed. They're nicer, I suppose. But they take a little getting used to." Bucky had found it strange, but he also kind of loved the thought of a soft bed. Though he hadn't dared lay down on it yet. The couch was even pretty soft and comfy, to him.

As he got thinking about it, he found himself more interested to try laying down in the bed and seeing if he slept well. His sleep at the Tower had been alright, the beds were very nice there, but he'd been sharing a room with Steve and feeling acutely aware of the multitude of strange going on there because of his own presence, and because of whatever it was Steve and his friends were chasing after. It hadn't always let him sleep much. He wasn't sure it would be any different here. When he was on his own, before Steve found him, Bucky had slept minimally and lightly, on a single, old, lumpy mattress. "I'm curious to try it out."

"Oh, and Bucky, I'm sending you some things in the mail. They should be there in a day or two. Just stuff that hopefully will keep you occupied, maybe help your memories." Bucky smiled at the screen.

"Thanks." He set the phone down and leaned back on the couch. It was a pretty nice couch, comfy, not slick like the stuff at the Tower, but that was good. Plain but comfortable was more Bucky's style.


	7. Mixed Mail

It was a week to Thanksgiving, and Darcy had checked with her mom, who was spending the holiday at her aunt's house. Her mom said she was welcome to come too, but because her aunt's husband had some of his family coming, and Darcy's grandmother and uncle were also coming, there were no rooms with doors on them to sleep in. That she'd have to sleep in the living room with her cousins, and their other cousins, and she wasn't even guaranteed to get the couch at least. She had followed that by calling her half-sister, shared father, but she and her mom were going out of town to other relatives. And her father apparently had some kind of plans as well. Which meant, Darcy was looking at her first Thanksgiving totally alone. The past couple years she'd had Jane, and before that, she'd had college friends and roommates who didn't always get home for Thanksgiving either. She wasn't exactly sure how to feel about it yet.

She had ventured out in the morning to another holiday market in the city. She hadn't bought much, but it was a nice place to walk around and look at things. It was just after noon when she returned and checked her mailbox. Darcy rolled her eyes, yet again the mail carrier had put her neighbor's mail in with her own, but this time, it was not just junk mail, there was a small package that had a new name on it. She'd seen the movers on Saturday, but no signs of the actual neighbor. Yesterday she'd thought she'd heard some clanking pots through the wall, but that was it. After depositing her things in her apartment, she crossed the hall to her neighbor's door and knocked, miss-delivered mail in hand.

After Darcy knocked, she heard clanking and a grunt. Then it was quiet, she waited for a whole minute, maybe a little more and nothing. She knocked again and futilely tried to peer into the peephole. "Hello?"

"Kind of busy!" She heard a man's voice from the other side of the door.

"I'm sorry, I'm your neighbor, and the mail carrier put your mail in my box, it happens from time to time here. Most of it is junk, but there is a package here for James Grant, I assume that's you, cause the guy who moved out a few weeks ago was named Craig. Return address is just over in Brooklyn." She then heard the lock turn and the door start to open.

Bucky hadn't really left the apartment since he'd arrived about three days earlier. He'd gotten his computer going and was reading up on a lot of things he had missed being only given as much information as Hydra needed to give him to do a job, and some of that was fuzzy, given the number of times he'd been wiped after missions. He knew the doctors said he was okay to be out in the world, but he wasn't really sure what that meant, or what it meant to be out in the world. Even though he'd been free from Hydra for months, he'd moved around from place to place every few weeks to keep off the radar, living in dingy apartments, bought only what he could manage to scrape up some cash for, and could easily eat, or pack and move with. Only speaking to people when necessary to do an odd job, buy food, or anything else. Otherwise, he'd hidden out and tried to piece himself back together.

When someone knocked on his door, he'd checked, making sure it wasn't someone he'd need to fight. Even through the peephole, she was pretty. Bucky didn't figure her a threat, though he never completely discounted anything, but mostly he wasn't sure about talking to random people. When she mentioned the package though, he knew it was from Steve. He wanted the package. Bucky engaged the holographic display for his arm before unlocking the door. It was very high tech, but he'd only used it a few times, it was so realistic it could fool airport security procedures, and many other things, it looked and felt like a real arm to anyone who might come into contact with it. Perhaps that was why he didn't go out much either, it meant turning it on, and Bucky couldn't let himself forget it was not at all a normal arm. He wasn't like most people, and if they knew the truth about who or what he had been for the past sixty plus years, at best they'd run, but chances were they'd send someone after him.

He opened the door enough to reach out and take the package and other mail, barely glancing at her, "thanks." Then he closed the door. It wasn't that he slammed it, it actually closed rather softly.

"You're welcome, I guess." Darcy had only gotten a quick look at him, all tall, dark, and broody. Like she needed some handsome, moody neighbor, with everything else going on in her life.

She started back toward her door when his door opened again. "I'm sorry, that was really rude. I'm James." He held out his hand, and Darcy stepped back toward him and shook it. The shake lingered only a moment.

"A little, but I guess it is New York. Besides, does anyone actually get to know their neighbors anywhere anymore? I'm Darcy, though. Just across the hall." She smiled slightly. Maybe she was desperately lonely, trying to make small talk with someone who less than a minute ago had closed a door in her face.

"I don't know. Maybe they don't. I feel like I haven't actually spoken to anyone in a while." Bucky had talked to Steve and had one conversation with Bruce that wasn't purely answering medical evaluation questions, his computer tutorial with Tony had mostly been listening. But other than that, he actually was still fuzzy on when the last time he'd had a real, normal conversation was. It was possible Bucky no longer knew how.

"How do you manage that?" Darcy was curious, and maybe his eyes were a little bit enthralling. They somehow looked so haunted, but so innocent at the same time.

"I work from home, computers. Not a lot of human interaction. I apologize for being terrible at it. It's been a busy few weeks, moving and such." Bucky was pulling on all the things Steve had said to say about where he came from and his history if anyone inquired. Not that this woman had really asked, but he hadn't meant to close the door on her, it was just a panic reflex. Not to engage unless required.

"Sometimes work consumes more of us than we think it will." Darcy had been thinking about how much of her life was wrapped up in Jane and her work, and the Tower. And without it to occupy her, she was finding how little else she had around her. Yes, she had a few hobbies to keep her busy, but back when she first met Jane she was still keeping up with her Facebook, talking to family and friends more regularly, even if only through Facebook posts, but she barely did that every couple weeks anymore, sometimes less.

"I guess so." Bucky was leaning on the door frame, the door more fully open.

"Still unpacking?" She could see a box sitting open on the floor.

He glanced over his shoulder, "yeah, I guess I've just been pulling out what I needed each day, but now the mess of boxes is kind of getting to me."

"Do you need any help? I've kind of got nothing but time this week." Darcy shrugged with a little smile, one that he attempted to return, though he wasn't sure if he did it right. The smile looked a little timid and a bit more to one side than the other, but it was kind of cute.

"Thanks, I'm almost there. Especially after my greeting, you definitely don't owe me any help." He had been slowly making the place look half normal all day, and he just had a few boxes left.

"Okay. Well, if you need anything, I'm just there." Darcy pointed at her door before backing toward it somewhat haphazardly.

Bucky nodded, the corner of his mouth trying another smile for a moment. "Thanks. I'll see you around then, and if I get any of your mail, I'll bring it over."

"Sounds good." She opened her door and waved, he waved back, and she closed her door behind her.

Bucky stood a moment longer before retreating into his apartment and closing the door with a soft sigh. For perhaps thirty seconds he stood there in a pleasant haze. The way she smiled lingering with him before he looked down to see his left hand, looking like a normal hand. His face scrunched and he shook his head at himself. Letting his mind get lost in a beautiful woman for even a few minutes. He could never have that. He disengaged the hologram and his hand was metal again, he was just a monster. Even if they said he was okay, he knew he wasn't. The metal arm was only a visual reminder of all the mess in his head. Maybe he wasn't the assassin anymore, but he had been.


	8. A Little Drunk

Bucky had managed yesterday to go check his mail at the same time his beautiful neighbor was coming in from shopping. He didn't plan it, it was simply good luck. They'd walked up the stairs together, no mail mix-ups that day. She'd asked how he was, he'd asked what she did. She said she was basically a glorified secretary, but her boss was out of town, so she was home a lot the next few weeks. Today, he found himself disappointed, as day became night and he hadn't seen her at all. But it was a Saturday, maybe a beautiful woman like her was out with friends, or a boyfriend, or something. So, Bucky occupied himself with some of the things Steve had sent him. A couple of books, one was something he'd been reading back in 1944, during the war, whenever he'd had a moment of quiet to do so. A book that he'd never gotten to finish. Another was a book Steve said he'd read when he was pretty fresh from the ice, and it had been interesting. There were also some candy bars, things that he remembered growing up, and apparently still existed. There were also a couple of science magazines that Bruce had suggested, as well as a fresh journal, and a blank sketchpad. There was also a note that read: 'I know you always just came along with me to art classes to be supportive, and it was a fun class, but you did have talent. I thought maybe even drawing shapes or doodling something might be good therapy. I know I've found myself with a pad and pencil in moments when I needed some perspective.' The note had made Bucky smile a little and had pulled his mind back to some of those art classes with Steve.

It was about midnight when Bucky heard a car pull up outside. Even up on the top floor, he heard some commotion, perhaps because his hearing was more acute than normal, or maybe it was kind of loud. Looking out his window he saw Darcy dropping her keys on the sidewalk outside a cab. The driver got out and helped her to the door, and didn't leave until she'd gotten inside. But then a couple of minutes later he heard a similar commotion in the hall. He set his book down and went to the hall, engaging the hologram on his arm along the way. When he opened his door, he found her trying to put her key in his door. "Hi."

"Oops!" Darcy giggled, then wobbled. She was definitely a bit drunk, her keys dropped. She had several keys on the chain, and Bucky wasn't really sure she knew which one was which as she retrieved them from the floor and probably came back up too fast, and nearly fell over.

"Are you alright?" Bucky reached out to grab her arm when she wobbled again, keeping her upright. Though her keys dropped on the floor, again. But better the keys than her. When she moved to reach, Bucky stopped her, "let me."

"Thanks." Darcy managed to shove the keys into her bag when he handed them to her. "I'm good! Just a little bit drunk." She used her thumb and index finger to indicate a small amount.

"Maybe a little more than a little?" He had pulled his hand back when she stopped wobbling.

"Maybe." The word was drawn out and she giggled again and wobbled, but she wobbled toward him, her finger poking him in the chest when she said 'maybe'. Bucky actually snickered slightly at that.

"Do you want to come in, sit for a little bit? Have some water, maybe?" Bucky definitely didn't feel sure about leaving her to fend for herself, even if she got inside her own apartment. He had visions of her wobbling in her bathroom and hitting her head, or something else terrible. Maybe it was just his paranoid mind, but it worried him. He wanted to make sure she was safe.

"Sure!" Darcy smiled and went right for his couch, flopping down and dropping her bag on the floor next to it.

Bucky closed the door and got her some water. He wasn't sure what else to do for drunk, but it seemed like water was a good idea. "Fun night with friends?"

"Nope, no friends." That sounded so unlikely to Bucky, she was friendly, kind, patient, just based on how she'd reacted after he'd closed the door on her.

"You went out drinking by yourself?" Coming toward the couch with some water, Bucky sat down next to her.

"It was that or don't go. Cause I don't have anyone to go with." She was making large arm gestures as she spoke until he handed her the water, which then occupied her hands.

"You must have some friends." He watched her carefully as she drank some water and set the cup down on the coffee table.

Darcy flopped back against the couch and turned her head to look at him. Though as she spoke she started gesturing again. "Nope. All I do is work. My only friend is my boss, but she's out of town right now. So I thought I'd see the City some more, try to meet people. I went into Manhattan, just to wander around, see the City. Been here eight months, I've barely seen the place. Then I spotted this cool looking bar, so I went in."

"Did you make any friends tonight? Meet someone nice?" She just seemed so appealing to him, he didn't know how everyone else wasn't just drawn right in.

"Nope. Well, the bartender was nice, but she's paid to put up with people. She was the only person who talked to me. She did get me a cab though." Darcy softly poked his shoulder as she spoke.

"Okay. Well, I'm glad you're home safe. You can rest here as long as you want." He wasn't really sure what else to do, he wanted to help, but he was reaching in his own mind for what else someone should do in a situation like this. He felt like there should be more he could do to help, but he just didn't know what, and he blamed his messed up brain for that. "Do you need anything?"

"You're nice." Darcy slowly dragged one hand down his cheek. Bucky's eyes went wide, sucking in a breath, his whole body shuddered, he hadn't expected so much sensation. Aside from a couple of times Steve had hugged him in the last few weeks, and that one strange bear hug from Steve's friend, Thor, Bucky hadn't had anyone touch him in a way that wasn't either to examine him or to hurt him in ages. And while he tried as much as possible to shut out the way he was handled as the Winter Soldier, it never really did leave his mind.

"You're drunk. I'm not that good. I closed a door in your face, remember." Bucky just couldn't really believe she'd think he was nice if she really knew anything about him. Not that he wanted to hurt anyone now, but he wasn't sure anything could make up for all those years. Even if he wasn't in control, he still felt responsible.

"Yeah, but you apologized right away, and then you were nice." Darcy softly tapped his nose with her finger and said, "boop."

Bucky let out a breath that was just flirting with being a tiny momentary chuckle, as his eyes closed at the same time. It took him a minute to look at her again. "You're the one who's nice. Believe me."

"Maybe, not that it's made me a lot of friends lately, or gotten me very far." Then she started petting his cheek and Bucky had to steady his breathing after his body tensed.

Her fingers were so warm and soft, and Bucky never wanted her to stop, each stroke relaxed him a little bit more. But she was drunk, she'd probably realize he wasn't worth being around when she wasn't. But he still couldn't make himself move away from her. "If you usually work a lot, maybe you just haven't given anyone else out there enough time to be drawn to you. Because you seem like the kind of person who most anyone would be lucky to call a friend."

Darcy smiled at him, it was a bit of a lazy, drunk smile, but hints of it still reached her eyes. Though there was also a bit of sadness there too. It made Bucky ache a little, that a woman that seemed so kind, and beautiful, and smart, regardless of the drunk state, looked so sad also. But maybe she was just an emotional drunk, he somehow had a faint recollection of that somewhere in his past. Someone he knew, perhaps. Was it his mother? Bucky filed the question away and shook his head a little.

She leaned into him, and when he felt the gentle press of her lips high on his cheek, where there was no stubble, just skin, Bucky trembled. Her lips were warm, soft, and just ever so slightly moist, and they lingered there until she trailed her nose down that same cheek. Her arms curled around his shoulders and her head finally came to rest upon one shoulder. The left one, though the hologram had him covered. When she didn't pull back after a moment, Bucky's hands seemed to decide they were going to hold onto her, which made her snuggle into him a bit more, essentially curling herself into his lap. Bucky wasn't quite sure what to do, so he simply held her for a while. Until it appeared she'd fallen asleep. That made him smile just a touch, or maybe it was the sensation of her gentle breathing on his neck. Either way, he stood up, holding her, and carried her to his bedroom, where he attempted to tuck her into bed.

It almost worked, Darcy stirred though, as Bucky tried to let go of her. Her hand clung to his wrist. "Don't go."

"You should sleep." His hand covering her hand. She still sat up though.

"Where are you going?" Darcy started to climb out of the bed, only letting go of him to start trying to peel off her pants. Though she was still a bit wobbly.

"Whoa! What are you doing?" Bucky looked away, but then she bumped into him while fussing with her jeans.

"I don't want to sleep in jeans. Not comfortable." He glanced, she had gotten her pants unbuttoned, and unzipped, but they were still on.

"Okay, hang on, let me get you something to sleep in, okay?" Bucky went to his drawer and pulled out a red Henley, and handed it to her. "I might have shorts or pants or something."

"That's okay, this will be good." Then she moved to start undressing again, wobbling slightly and reaching out to grab his arm for balance.

"Hang on, you can change in the bathroom. And sit down if you need to when you take off your pants. I don't want you to fall." Bucky pointed to the open doorway to the bathroom.

"Oh, cool, okay. I'll be careful." She smiled a little lazy again, patting his chest softly when she walked by him. Her movements were slow and cautious. He kind of smiled at that.

Once she'd closed the door, Bucky let out a long sigh. She at least seemed slightly less wobbly, so he wasn't as worried about her tripping over herself and getting hurt. Though he still stood in the middle of the room and listened, just in case. He heard an "oops!" and the sound of something small hitting the floor. Maybe something from the sink.

"You okay!?" He called out, getting a few steps closer to the door.

"Yeah! I just knocked over your toothbrush holder. Sorry!"

"It's okay!" He really didn't care. He'd wash it off before he used it, no big deal.

"It seems pretty clean on this part of the floor!"

"It is. If you can't get it, just leave it. Don't hurt yourself." He just really didn't want her falling and getting hurt, and him possibly having to kick the door in, though he wasn't sure he'd heard her actually lock the door.

"I'm okay. I got it!"

Bucky could hear her probably rinsing it off and fixing it. He almost smiled a little at that. Even though he couldn't see her, he bet it was cute. It was a few minutes, while he heard the toilet flush, the sink ran again for a moment and some soft sounds that were perhaps her changing, before the door opened and she came out carrying her clothes, wearing just his Henley. That was something he didn't really prepare himself for seeing. He checked on the bathroom, and it all looked well enough, as Darcy set her clothes on top of his dresser and crawled back into the bed, her movements slow and deliberate so as not to wobble so much. He turned to go.

"Where are you going?" She was sitting up, hair a bit mussed, the buttons undone, giving him a peek at her cleavage, her head tilted to one side, and her eyes softly needy.

Bucky closed his eyes and took a breath, trying to settle a rush of sensations that went through his body, all of them very confusing. Tingling in odd places, and a warm feeling in his chest, plus an impulse that felt like his body wanted to just wrap around her and hold on. "I was going to go stay on the couch."

"No, don't do that. I don't want to kick you out of your bed. I could sleep on the couch." Darcy's bottom lip pouted out and she started to climb out of the bed again.

Oh, that pout, he felt himself twitch, and his lips rubbed together. This was definitely not a sensation he had good recall of, though he did flash on his hands, two real hands, on the body of a wiggling, moaning, naked woman. It was not a sensation he needed to have, but he was having it anyway. Bucky took a couple deep breaths, his eyes closed, trying to calm the feelings rushing through him. He could think about them more later, when he was alone. He just wanted to make sure Darcy was safe tonight.

"Are you okay?" Her voice was followed by a soft touch on his arm. He jumped, which made her jump. "Sorry. Let me go sleep on the couch. I’m small I’ll fit better. Besides, I'm the crazy person crashing your apartment. Maybe I should just try finding the right key. I don't want to bother you."

When she shifted like she was going to go, wobbling a little as she tried to keep on top of her feet, Bucky caught her hand with his. But as soon as she stopped and looked at him, he pulled his hand back. "No, I'm sorry. I spaced out there or something. I'm okay. I want you to be safe and comfortable, please, sleep in the bed."

"You could sleep there too. I feel like if you were a jerk who was going to take advantage of me, you'd have done it already." Bucky let out a long sigh after she spoke, his hands wanted to make contact, wanted to brush down her arms or something, but he was afraid to. If he thought at all, his mind told him to not even make contact. But it didn't stop his hands from brushing the air just centimeters from her arms.

He thought he saw her tremble a little, so he pulled his hands away and stepped back. Unsure if he'd just made her uncomfortable, "sorry."

"For what?" The look in her eyes seemed relaxed and curious. But maybe it was just because she was drunk, he couldn't be sure.

"For almost touching you." Bucky's hands reached for a moment and pulled back again, but her hands caught his this time.

"That didn't bother me." He inhaled deep and slow as Darcy's thumbs rubbed gently at the backs of his hands. His left one processed the sensation slightly differently than the right, but it still felt very nice, gentle.

"I thought you trembled, or something. I don't want to make you nervous." Bucky shifted his weight, and gently pulled his hands back, running them through his hair.

"Oh, maybe I did tremble, but I wasn't nervous. It just felt nice. Kind of intense." She then stepped closer and wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him, making a small humming sound as she did.

Bucky found that hard to resist, his hands settling softly on her back, his nose indulging a moment, to nuzzle her hair and inhale the soft scent of her. He let it linger a minute or two before he felt like he was enjoying it too much. He would never really have that, why let himself get used to the feeling of her. Once she wasn't drunk she would remember she was far better than his walking disaster of a self. "You should probably sleep though."

"Probably. But you come to bed too. I can give you your space, just don't go sleep on the couch." He started to move with her as Darcy seemed to be gently swaying toward the bed.

"Okay, but I'm going to use the bathroom first." Bucky figured it good to do so, and he just needed a minute to catch his breath and make sure he was calm.

Darcy nodded and sat herself down in the bed, leaving one side free for him. He went into the bathroom to do the routine he'd started for getting to sleep. It included some breathing exercises that he usually did sitting or standing by the bed, but Bucky wasn't sure if it would seem strange, so he did them in the bathroom. Even taking his time, it wasn't that long before he finished and climbed into bed.

Darcy snuggled down into the covers and smiled at him. "Your bed is nice, and soft, and cozy."

"It is, yeah." It was almost too soft, but he also liked it at the same time. It felt strange and foreign still, but he did enjoy the actual sensations of soft sheets and a cozy warm bed. When he was on the run, he'd slept on single mattresses, or even just a roll out mat, depending on what was accessible and affordable wherever he was. Bucky laid back and turned off the bedside lamp. The only light remaining was a small, warm glow from a tiny nightlight in the wall, and a faint glow through the window. The nightlights had been there, one in each room of the apartment, when he arrived, and he saw no need to remove them. They turned on automatically by sensor when the room was dark enough.

"Thank you, for taking care of me. There's not a lot of people who would do that." There were a couple of feet of bed between them, but they had both turned on their sides to face each other.

"You've been kind to me, so," Bucky shrugged as best he could, laying on his side. He wasn't sure he'd really done anything all that special, he just didn't want her getting hurt.

Darcy's hand stretched out and her fingers brushed his cheek. "You are nice. Don't say you're not, because you are."

For a moment he was going to contradict her assessment again, but she anticipated that, it seemed. Maybe he should have moved her hand away, but it felt far too nice. Instead, his hand rested over hers, in the hope she might keep it there a while. Bucky let his fingertips trail across the back of her hand as her fingers softly massaged his cheek and jaw. His eyelids fluttered a moment, willing open again to hold her gaze, which felt surprisingly intense given her slightly drunk state. He traced around her wrist and brushed his thumb in circles on the inside. It seemed it was her turn for her eyelids to flutter. That was beautiful to him. His breath caught when her thumb grazed over his lip. Her lazy smile had him wondering if it was intentional or not, while his thumb continued its circles, and his fingers lightly stroked the back of her hand. The next thumb on lip was definitely not an accident, as he felt her thumb wiggle softly against his lips. Bucky made a soft 'mmm' sound as his lips caressed her thumb.

Bucky continued staring into her eyes, with Darcy's thumb playing gently on his lips, as the rest of her hand cradled his jaw and cheek. She stared back, that soft little smile on her lips, humming lightly, as his fingers memorized the feel of her hand and wrist, until first her eyes closed, and his followed.


	9. Lazy Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slightly past the weekend on this update, also starting to eat into my lead. I'm hoping to keep ahead of posting though still.

Darcy had slept pretty soundly and not like she'd passed out, like she actually had a nice night's sleep. She woke to find she'd rolled a little closer to her neighbor. Her sigh made Bucky's eyelids flutter. They were face to face on their sides, and he was possibly even more attractive in the filtered morning light than he'd been last night when she was a little tipsy. She certainly hadn't forgotten about Steve, but she was feeling more and more like he wasn't interested in her, at least not as anything other than strictly a friendship. Which meant she should probably stop thinking of him as something other than that either. The way Bucky's lips curled into a soft, lopsided smile Darcy thought maybe there was an off chance he wasn't just being a nice neighbor by letting her sleep over. It was still too early to say for sure, but he looked happy to see her.

"Hi." Darcy smiled back, she had one hand curled into his hand and had the back of his hand pulled to her chest, while her other hand was still cupping his cheek. His other hand was holding lightly to her forearm, and upon waking, his thumb softly brushed at her wrist again. A sensation that had her humming softly, both inside and aloud.

The soft hum seemed to make him smile a little more. Bucky couldn't help smiling, not when he'd opened his eyes to the most beautiful sight he'd seen upon opening his eyes in a long time. "Hi. How are you feeling? Did you sleep well?"

"I feel pretty good, actually. I did sleep well. Possibly better than I have in weeks." It was the first night in weeks she hadn't woken from some weird dream. They weren't always bad dreams, but they were always strange. Full of places and people she didn't know and often didn't even look like places that existed on Earth. So, even the not bad ones kind of left her feeling strange and disoriented.

"Really? I'm glad. I think it was the best sleep I've had in I don't know how long either." When her thumb brushed against his lip again, as it had before they'd fallen asleep, his lips softly brushed against her thumb. For a long minute, maybe two, they just stared into each other as Bucky's lips moved around Darcy's thumb and her thumb softly pressed and brushed against his lips.

His face looked so soft and his eyes so deep, Darcy wondered what stories he had behind those eyes. The notion he slept better too seemed nice and warmed her inside. "I'm glad you slept well too then. Given I kind of stumbled in and made myself at home all drunk and crazy like."

Her fingers stroked his cheek and his eyes closed as his forehead leaned softly into hers. Bucky had still half expected her to rush away when morning came and she wasn't drunk anymore. The fact she seemed happy to linger in bed with him upon waking had his head spinning a little with hopes he probably needed to put some reins on. "I'm glad you're not drunk anymore, but I am glad it somehow brought you to my door."

When his eyes opened again at the end of his comment, Darcy trembled a little from the intensity of his stare. "It's a strange way to get to know someone, but sometimes life is strange."

"That it is." He squeezed her hand gently and pulled the back of her hand to his lips and pressed a soft kiss there. "Are you hungry? I think I have a few things that would work for breakfast."

"I am a little hungry. But if you don't have a lot of food in the house yet, I have some in mine. We could go there, or I could bring something over. Do you like pancakes? Or scrambled eggs?" Darcy felt comforted by his slow and gentle manner, it also made her insides flutter with excitement at the same time somehow.

"Either of those sound good. My kitchen is a little thin on food still. I should probably go shopping. I can help you cook though." Bucky had managed to cook a bit for himself while he was hiding out. It was also something he could recall doing when he was young, back in that other life. Nothing complicated, but the basic skills applied to anything. He knew he could scramble eggs, and probably manage pancakes, though that was something he'd never made himself.

The idea of him helping her cook made her grin. She didn't rush to move, and he didn't seem to either. His thumb softly tracing circles on her wrist was slowly spreading tingling sensations through her whole body. It made her feel like she probably should get up, and also like she never wanted to. "That sounds like fun."

"Whatever you feel like eating I'll eat." Bucky was still cautious in touching her in any way she hadn't touched him. Actually even that he was nervous about. She'd touched his face, but he was still hesitant to touch hers, in case it was too intimate. He was loving the feeling of her fingers on his cheek though, and her thumb brushing against his lips.

"I suppose we should start getting up. I have everything for both pancakes and eggs, if you're feeling hungry, I could make both." Darcy still didn't actually move to get up, not until he nodded and started to shift, letting his hands slide off of hers.

"I suppose so." Bucky would have laid in bed all day with her. It was the most content he'd felt in, well, he didn't know how long. He had no recollection of feeling so content, so it was probably before the War. Probably some time in his youth, hanging out with Steve.

They slowly extracted themselves from the bed and Darcy gathered up her clothes to take back to her apartment. Bucky used the bathroom and then followed her to her doorway. Though he didn't step inside until she appeared from her own bathroom and waved him inside. It seemed simplest to just eat at her place, and for Bucky, there was something amazing about being invited into her apartment. As it turned out, the only time he left her apartment that day was for a half hour to go back to his and shower, and so she could do the same. He returned and they made dinner together and watched a movie. She had a nice little collection of DVDs and Bucky picked one out randomly.

It was nearly midnight when Darcy yawned. Bucky took it as a cue to maybe go home. "I should probably be heading to bed. This was really fun though." He inhaled and exhaled slow as he stood up. Scratching his head and looking down when he spoke again in a much quieter tone. "Maybe we could do this again sometime?"

"That would be great. I've got nothing but time this week, so whenever you aren't busy." Darcy stood up slowly. She’d thought about asking him to stay but she wondered if that would be rushing things. She had been drunk last night and had kind of flopped her way into his apartment. Given the state of her life as well, it seemed prudent to let things move at whatever pace nature dictated.

"I don't actually have much planned for tomorrow. Or the next couple of days really. I kind of gave myself some time to settle in after the move without too many projects." Since he didn't actually have any work to do, Bucky was quick to jump to take any time Darcy was willing to spare. “We could maybe spend the next couple days doing more of this? If you want. Whenever you aren't busy.” He was also quick to doubt himself and what she might be interested in.

“That would be great. Maybe tomorrow I could show you where the best market in the neighborhood is and get you some groceries. Then we can relax and watch some more movies.” Darcy stood close, smiling softly.

“That would be great.” It was perhaps one of the first full-blown smiles Bucky had in quite a while. Truth was he couldn't recall the last time he smiled so boldly and easily.

“Great. Tomorrow then.” Her smile had radiated through her whole face when he had smiled so bright at her suggestion. It made her not want him to go.

“Tomorrow. Definitely.” Bucky nodded, the smile had mellowed, he didn't really want to go, but it seemed like he should. But that couldn't completely diminish his excitement at the prospect of spending tomorrow and hopefully several more days with her.

As he turned to go, Darcy spoke. “James?”

Not many people had called him James in his life. Usually, teachers who didn't care for nicknames or his parents when he'd gotten into trouble. But it sounded so soft and gentle coming off her lips. Bucky paused and looked back at her.

Darcy stepped in close. “Thank you.” When he didn't move she slid her arms around him.

Bucky all but melted into her. His chin on her shoulder and arms wrapped around her. She felt so good. So warm and comfortable. Her hands rubbing over his back kept him from being able to pull away. Not that he wanted to pull away, he had just thought maybe he should. “Thank you. I wasn't sure that I wasn't going to be very alone out here when I moved in.”

Darcy squeezed him a little tighter. They held on for a while longer before she finally figured she had to pull back. But she sure wished she could pull him into her bed. It did feel somehow colder sleeping alone, but she did get some sleep. Though when the strange dreams appeared, morning, and the chance to see him again, couldn't come quick enough.


	10. Groceries

After going through his kitchen, Darcy made a little list, with Bucky's input, for what to get and they headed out to the grocery store. Upon reaching the sidewalk outside their building, Bucky positioned himself on the outside, along the street. It was how he'd always been taught to walk with a woman. He actually could recall his father's voice saying it to him when he was probably seven years old. She walked so close to him their hands kept brushing. Bucky couldn't resist, as they neared the corner, taking hold of her hand. Even if it was with his left hand, he wanted to hold her hand.

Darcy smiled up at him and gave his hand a squeeze when he clasped his hand with hers. "There's a few small markets that are easy to walk to, but I'll take you to the biggest of them that I use the most often. It has more variety. But there's a few corner markets, like that one," she pointed across the street at a little quickie mart type place, "that have at least some of the real basics. And that one, in particular, is really close."

"How far is the bigger market?" He had noticed when he arrived the area appeared a bit rough around the edges. Nothing he worried about personally, but he was more aware of it now that he was thinking about Darcy walking the streets by herself.

"Really only a few blocks, it's right on the main drag and down a couple blocks." The neighborhood could be a bit on the sketchy side, but during the day it usually felt safe enough, and plenty busy with folks going about their days. Plus, she always had her taser just in case.

"Do you work nearby, in the neighborhood? When your boss is in town?" Bucky didn't mean to pry he just wanted to know her.

"No, in Manhattan. But I either pick up the subway right up here or the train a just a few blocks down that way on the other side of the parkway." As they got onto the main thoroughfare, she pointed toward the intersection a few blocks down with another of the main roads through the neighborhood.

“If you're ever coming home late, you can always call me and I'll come meet you at whichever station you come into.” Obviously, she'd been here for eight months and handled herself, but it just didn't feel right not to put it out there that he didn't mind at all if she ever wanted an escort home after dark.

“That's sweet, but not necessary. I wouldn't want to disrupt you late at night.” Darcy had generally managed life mostly on her own. She didn't want him having to go out of his way.

“I know it's not necessary, you’ve obviously managed just fine until now. But I really don't mind either. If you ever feel like you would be more comfortable not walking home after dark. I've noticed the neighborhood is a bit shadier after dark.” Bucky gave her hand a soft squeeze and the way she smiled put him at ease.

“Okay, thank you. There are some nights that feel a little off sometimes, so maybe when that happens it might be nice to have someone to call.” There had been a few nights where she nearly pulled out her taser because she just had one of those off feelings. She hadn't needed to use it thus far, but there had been a couple of times she heard gunshots just a block or two away, and sometimes saw cars speeding off after some kind of shouting or commotion. She'd walked by just after a shop had been robbed one evening and the police were pulling up. Things did happen sometimes in the neighborhood. But she had largely grown up in neighborhoods where things happened sometimes, so she didn't let it stop her, she simply took precautions.

The market was a few blocks down the street and Bucky picked up a basket as they entered. He didn't let go of her hand though. Until she seemed like she wanted her hand back, he was holding onto it. Darcy only pulled her hand away several aisles in when she needed them both to pick up some flour. He took the opportunity to switch the basket to his left hand and smiled a little extra when she took hold of his right hand. There was a little something extra in getting to feel her skin with his own.

After the market their day went much as the one before had, watching movies and cooking together while hanging out at his apartment until after midnight when Darcy noticed the time and politely excused herself, off to bed in her own apartment.


	11. Something Missing

Steve had returned to the Tower Monday morning after some recon in Europe. He spent that first night back in the upper-level room he'd been sharing with Bucky before Bucky moved to his apartment and Steve left on the mission. He hadn't had the mental energy to move everything back down to his room, though he had packed up his things, until the next day. It was Tuesday and he finally entered his real room for the first time since the day after Halloween when he came to get his go-bag.

As he walked into his bedroom, he got that feeling again. Just like the last time, like he was forgetting something. It had been just over three weeks away from his room and the feeling hadn't changed. It was a strange sensation, it made his fingers twitch and his head feel just ever so slightly off-kilter. He really needed to figure out what the hell was happening around the Tower. His heart still ached daily, and without Bucky there to focus on, his mind kept jumping back to Darcy. The texts from a week ago particularly kept gnawing at his brain. It sounded like she'd experienced some pretty strange sensations that night, among the most notable sounding of all the people at the party, along with his own, and a handful of others. Steve wondered why them.

Putting himself to the task of unpacking his things did nothing to quiet his head. The other thing he couldn't stop thinking about was her wanting to come to talk to him. First of all, he'd thought she was away with Jane, so the notion that she was still here and able to just drop by to see him surprised him, and second, he was still terrified to talk to her when he didn't know what happened at the Halloween party. Even after he'd basically told her he didn't remember anything, he wasn't sure how to have a conversation without knowing everything he'd said that night. The security footage looked innocuous enough, but it was from a distance, and Jarvis was unable to tell him what was said. Especially since Steve got a weird sense from Darcy's texts that she was holding something back. Had he said something stupid? Was she upset with him? Steve wanted to be able to make everything right with her, especially when he'd already screwed up by not simply saying yes when she'd asked him out in the first place. If he knew what he'd done and said, then he might be able to go about making it right. But he also desperately wanted to see her, and talk to her, and try to fix things.

-

That night, Steve was finding getting to sleep a very difficult thing to do. Just being in his bedroom, or even the living room, had him unable to shake the feeling he was forgetting something. He had forgotten Halloween, was that part of it? He wondered if it was connected since he'd felt this same sensation the next day before he left with Sam. But why was the sensation in his room? He didn't notice the feeling other places. Sitting up in bed, the clock told him he'd been shifting for over an hour, trying to find rest.

After flopping back and turning several more times, sleep finally snagged him, but not for long. Steve woke in a sweat, pulse-pounding, with the lingering sensation of Darcy. For a moment as he left sleep he could smell the light scent from her hair and felt like he could feel her skin on his. Steve pressed his fingertips to his temples, trying to clear his mind. The serum allowed him peak performance on much less sleep than the normal human, but barely an hour was not ideal, even for him. Given this madness lately with Halloween, and tracking down Bucky, he was definitely going to need more rest, but he needed his mind to stop gnawing at him, and it would definitely help if he wasn't fully aroused at the moment either.

He was definitely getting Sam up in the morning to walk through what happened at the party with him. And maybe take a look at the footage. Maybe a clearer set of eyes would see something he hadn't. Steve's vision was fine, but his mind was definitely all turned around. More and more he felt like there was something about Darcy at Halloween, that what he felt like he was forgetting had to do with her and he needed to know what.


	12. Going Through It

“Okay, I'm here. So, what am I here for?” It was five in the morning and Steve had buzzed Sam. He was an early riser, but a call waking him at that hour was jarring. Steve also hadn't bothered to disclose why he needed Sam to meet him in the upper-level Avengers lounge, just to meet him there.

“I need to walk through the party." Steve had been pacing the lounge for a while before he finally buzzed Sam.

“Okay?” Sam had coffee in hand and work out clothes on.

“And I needed another opinion or set of eyes. Something.” Steve ran his hand down his face.

Sam knew the thing with Halloween was eating at Steve, especially because it had involved contact with Darcy, which was another thing that was gnawing at Steve constantly. “Alright so let's start at the beginning.”

“I came in from that elevator. It took me half an hour to get to the bar for a beer. Then I ran into you about here. My memory on the night was already getting hazy.” Steve moved toward the bar then moved toward the area along the edge of the lounge where he'd talked to Sam.

Sam didn't quite follow, but he shifted a bit as Steve moved through the space. “Mine got a bit fuzzy around there too. You were looking for Darcy, I think. I know we talked about her, but I don't recall exactly what we said. Although, I do remember seeing you talking to her over there somewhere a while later. You said the footage agrees, right?”

“Yes, I just don't know what was said. Jarvis wasn't able to discern much actual conversation.” Scratching his head a bit, Steve knew every word of every conversation could be tough at a big party, but usually, Jarvis could catch more than just the content of Rhodey’s stories. If he had any idea what the conversation was about he'd have felt like he could have actually spoken to Darcy.

“Does Jarvis usually record that?” Sam had been hanging around the tower, even living there for a little while, but he had never bothered to ask just how in-depth Jarvis’ surveillance was.

“Kind of, yeah. Usually everything is pretty fully surveilled, for just this kind of reason, but it seems to have failed.” Steve had started moving toward the area where he had been talking to Darcy the night of the party. As he neared the spot that sensation started to seep into his body. “It's happening again.”

“What’s happening again?” Steve didn't look distressed so Sam didn't worry, but he was definitely wondering.

“That feeling that I'm forgetting something. Like I had in my room last night and the day after Halloween. I'm starting to think the feeling has something to do with Darcy.” Steve needed some answers because he wanted to be able to feel like he could at least try talking to her again.

“Was she in your room?” Sam’s eyebrow went up as he sipped his coffee.

“Jarvis and the footage say no. But I'm having doubts about the footage. Why don't you have a look at it too? Maybe you’ll see something I didn't.” Steve had rerun that footage in his head so many times he probably needed clearer eyes on it.

“Sure.” He shrugged. Sam wasn't sure he would notice anything neither Steve nor Jarvis noticed, but he would check it out because Steve asked. “But what makes you think the feeling is related to her?”

“When I woke up I felt like I could smell her and feel her in a way that isn't usual for my dreams.” Steve had plenty of dreams, some rather vivid. But that was the thing, the most vivid ones were such because they were at least to some extent something he had experienced. Maybe, between hugs and back rubs, he had managed to imagine the sensation of being with her, but Steve just wasn't sure there wasn't something more going on.

Sam nodded and they headed into the lab and requested the footage. Going through the same rundown Steve had done with Jarvis over a week ago before Avengers business had kept him away and occupied.

“It looked like a cozy conversation.” The lopsided grin Sam had couldn't be helped.

“Does it?” Steve hadn't been able to figure out what it looked like, he was too unsure about how she might feel about him since he had stupidly declined her invitation to go out with her.

“Yeah. Where does she go after she talked to you?” Sam was smiling, he definitely thought it looked like a conversation between people who liked each other. Darcy appeared comfortable and perhaps even slightly flirtatious with Steve.

“I don't know. I meant to check, but the recon in Europe right after Bucky left got in the way.” The footage had been paused as Darcy and Steve appeared to be going separate ways after talking. “Hey, Jarvis, can we follow where Darcy went the rest of the night?”

Jarvis didn't respond as quickly as usual. “I can’t seem to find Miss Lewis after she fades into the crowd here.” The footage paused just seconds after she and Steve parted company. Darcy was short and seemed to just get swallowed up in the crowd at the party.

“How is that possible?” Steve could see the cameras losing her for a few minutes if she was in the middle of the crowd, but she had to have emerged somewhere, if for nothing else than when she left the party for the night.

“It shouldn't be, Captain Rogers. I have logs of every single person who comes and goes from The Tower and every place inside The Tower every single day.” The AI sounded perturbed.

“What about when she left the party?” Sam chimed in, wondering if that hadn't been looked at yet.

“My next record of Miss Lewis’ whereabouts is in Dr. Foster’s lab the next morning.” Footage of Darcy entering the lab from the lab’s bathroom played. Darcy sat down and shoved an extra bag, besides her usual purse, under her desk.

“Can we backtrack from here?” Steve wasn't sure what was going on but it was definitely very strange.

“No. This is the next occurrence of Miss Lewis’ presence in The Tower that I can find after you spoke to her at the party. I do not know what has happened that I cannot find her anytime or anywhere in between.”

“Okay, that seems pretty high on the scale of weird shit that happened at Halloween.” Sam had felt strange when he woke the next day, and feeling fuzzy recall on the night had seemed very weird to him and for him, but that seemed to be the commonplace strange of the night. Steve not being able to recall the whole night and into the next morning and Jarvis being unable to locate Darcy for much of that time seemed the most strange.

“I agree.” Steve was pacing rubbing his forehead with his fingers.

“I, too, concur. I will alert Mr. Stark of this new issue.” For a computer program, Jarvis sounded very concerned with the situation.

“Thank you, Jarvis.” Steve looked at Sam and found his friend with an unnerved look in his eyes that Steve felt certain he was having as well. “Wait, Jarvis, didn't you say when I was viewing the footage the first time that Darcy went to bed? But now you say she can't be found?”

“I did say that. I do not know why I said that. It would seem an assumption on my part.”

“Can you make assumptions?” Sam thought Jarvis seemed very aware for a computer but that somehow seemed like a concept that an artificial intelligence wouldn't be capable of.

“I suppose. I did not think to check my own data. The response was just there.”

“What does that mean?” Steve felt the nervous frustration rising and it was clear in his voice.

“I do not know. I will inform Mr. Stark of that as well.”

“Seems like more than coincidence that Jarvis can't find Darcy while you can't remember the night. Maybe she really went back to your room with you and someone wants to cover that up. Have you tried to talk to her at all?” It was definitely a fishy seeming situation in Sam's opinion.

“I sent her a text the other week when we were asking everyone about their Halloween experiences and it sounded like she maybe had some missing or strange recall of the night. She wanted to come by to talk to me face to face but I was too swamped trying to gather information on what happened, Bucky was still here, and I guess I was maybe nervous?” Shifting back and forth Steve could feel a sense of guilt creeping up inside.

“And did you tell her you were contacting everyone or did you at least make it sound like you were just concerned about her.” Sam could see the shift in Steve’s posture.

“I told her we needed information from everyone. I did say I wanted to see her soon. There was just too much going on to talk that day.” Exhaling and feeling a new wave of confusion and anxiety wash over him. Steve really wanted to know who was responsible for whatever this was so he could take them down.

“It might be time to just talk to her. Cause it sounds like you two had the strangest Halloween experiences, and maybe you were together. Maybe you two ran into something? Maybe that's why your memory is missing and hers is fuzzier than the rest of us.” Sam was a bit concerned as to what might be capable of such a thing.

“Maybe.” Steve was still half-listening, but his mind was wandering off on all the possibilities, none of which seemed good in his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really closing in on the 'lead' I had on this story so we'll see how updates go. I might start spreading them out a little more, that or there could be a who knows how long delay after I catch up to where I'm still writing. Hopefully, I can get some more movement forward on it though.


	13. Getting in Touch

Darcy had been spending the day with Bucky again. They seemed happy to exist in their little bubble until around noon they both noticed they had missed messages. Darcy had gone to grab something from her apartment and checked her phone along the way.

“Hey, James?” When she returned to his apartment, he seemed to be checking his own phone. When he looked up she continued. “I have a couple work messages I should probably deal with, do you mind if we pause the movie marathon for maybe an hour-ish?”

“Oh, yeah, sure. I should probably do a few things myself so I don't get behind.” Bucky had gotten so pulled into her orbit that he had almost forgotten about pretending to have a job. But he figured he should at least seem to work sometimes for a little while. He figured he could shoot Steve a text and do some internet reading or something like that.

“Okay, cool. Yeah, I don't want you to get behind either. How long do you need?” Darcy figured if he needed more work time then she could busy herself at home for a bit and then come back before dinner time.

“An hour or two is plenty. I don't have a lot, but since you have a few things to do, I can definitely make some good use of that time. That way when you are free, I can be too.” They had already made plans to make a small Thanksgiving dinner the next day and just lounge around together and Bucky was really looking forward to that. He hadn't looked forward to anything in so long that just looking forward each day to seeing Darcy felt incredible. It had Bucky's body humming in ways he had completely forgotten about in all those years.

Darcy nodded and smiled with a wave before she headed back to her apartment.

She settled in on her couch before really reading the message Steve had sent her. “Darcy, I'm sorry I've been so out of touch lately. There has been so much going on with the Avengers. And after Halloween, I still don't really recall what happened that night, but I feel pretty certain something out of the ordinary happened, and maybe you were part of it too. If you feel like you aren't remembering or aren't sure of what you recall, I think some kind of force was at work that night. But I would like to know what you remember. I keep having a sensation of forgetting something especially in my room and in the lounge in the area where I think we talked that night. Sam and I looked over some of the footage from Halloween, we think it, or Jarvis, may have been tampered with. Maybe if you have some free time in the next few days, and I don't get called out again, we could sit down together and talk? Maybe you can help me make some sense of what has been going on. I've missed you.”

She read the message three times trying to process its intent and just what might be going on. Darcy wasn't sure about telling him everything she thought she remembered, but there were at least some things she could say and if she could gauge his feelings from there, she might be able to share more. Of course, there was also James now. She wasn't completely sure where that was headed, but it felt like something, something she liked, something she wanted. But that was also still true of what she felt about Steve, she just wasn't sure he wanted what she wanted. It took her a little while to figure out what to say. “I've missed you too. If you have some time I would like to come talk with you about Halloween and all the ensuing strangeness that seems to be going on. You really think Jarvis was somehow tampered with?”

After hitting send Darcy got up with the intent to clean up her kitchen a bit. Jarvis was technically still a computer system, tampering was theoretically possible, but Stark had so many safeties in place and Jarvis really was next level, it seemed slightly shocking. It made her nervous that someone was capable of doing that. She only managed standing up before her phone buzzed though. It wasn't just a message, but a call, from Steve. She sat down on her bed as she answered, her voice soft with only a hint of a question. “Hello?”

“Hi, Darcy. It's nice just to hear your voice. Things have been so crazy around here.” It made her smile more than she had expected.

“Hi, Steve. It does seem like it's been a little weird, especially since Halloween.” Her free hand had begun absently playing with her hair.

“It has. We think whatever happened that night it might be related to what Jane has been studying. And we do think Jarvis' records of that night have been somehow messed with, but Tony hasn't been able to figure out how. He says everything looks like it's in order, but there's clearly some things that don't line up.”

“Really? Like what?” Jane had been nearly radio silence for days. Darcy had sent a few messages and only gotten back ‘lots to do’ and ‘research is crazy’, she hadn't heard there was any suspected connection.

“Yeah. There was an energy surge around Manhattan during the time frame of the party. And Thor thinks he has a shortlist of Asgardians who might be involved. Though we still don't know why or for what purpose. But maybe that's why everything appears okay to Tony and Jarvis, but something is clearly off with the system. Like that Jarvis has no record of you after we spoke until you were sitting down to work the next morning in Jane's lab.” Darcy was trying to listen but her mind was also wondering how Jarvis seemed to think she was missing all night. It didn't make her feel any more certain about everything she'd been experiencing since that night.

“Whoa! There are Asgardians who can do all that?” Thor had mentioned his brother, Loki, was capable of some kind of magic and manipulations, but it somehow seemed different with such a high tech computer intelligence involved, but maybe to an Asgardian a human mind and a computer weren't so different. Darcy was trying to come up with her own explanations in her mind.

“I guess so.” His voice sounded soft and she wished she could actually look at him, but she didn't dare suggest a video call. He’d chosen a voice call, and she was glad just to hear his voice.

“Are things such that making a time to meet would work?” Maybe she could slip out for a few hours and head into Manhattan and talk to him.

“I just got back from some recon in Eastern Europe. I'm hoping we have a few days, but it could depend. If you're in the building now though…” His voice trailed off and she wanted desperately to be sitting next to him.

“I'm not.” She wished she was. If she lived anywhere close to the Tower she'd have chanced it. But it was sometimes an hour each way.

“Okay, well, maybe message me when you are and we can meet for a bit?” Steve's voice sounded cautious and somehow uncertain. She wondered again if his expression could have told her more about what he was really thinking and feeling.

“I can do that.” Though she wondered a moment if he knew she didn't live there, it had never come up before. She heard some muffled voices before she could say more.

“Oh? ... Shit. Really? ... Okay.” She could hear Steve's voice, but he was speaking to someone there. “Looks like it might be a few more days. Natasha just said something new is happening so we're heading back to Eastern Europe in less than an hour."

“Okay, be careful.” She wasn't sure if she was crazy to think she could feel him smile when she said that.

There was a slight pause and some muffled sounds again before he spoke. “I will. I'll message you when I'm back. Take care.”

“See you soon, hopefully.” The mix of worry and hope had her insides feeling a little tangled.

“See you soon.” When he hung up she smiled for a minute to herself before shifting to messages again and sending a message to Jane asking about what was going on. Maybe direct questions would get some kind of actual answer.


	14. Touching Base

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for such a lag in posting, but I'm catching up to where I am actually still writing the rest of this part.

Once Bucky was left alone in his apartment, he sent Steve a message. "How's the weird stuff going?"

It took about twenty minutes for Bucky to get a message back from Steve. "Weird. Actually, I think we're on our way back to Europe. The energy isn't the same, but there's some kind of disturbance going on there too. It might be related, or it might just be someone else taking an opportunity."

"Where in Europe? Do you guys have a line on who's responsible yet?" Bucky's memories were still scattered, but he knew Hydra had bases and lairs all over Europe, it was where Hydra was born. Even though the main head of Hydra was cut off, as they liked to repeat, cut off one head, two more grow back. He knew Hydra wasn't dead, only crippled.

"Not sure yet on the who. But the where is looking like Sokovia." Bucky sighed as he read the reply.

"Sokovia? Keep your eyes open there. I don't remember the details, but I remember a job in Sokovia some years ago for Hydra. I think they have an installation there. I killed someone in the government so Hydra could get a foothold there when Eastern Europe was all a mess in the wake of the Cold War." He didn't recall everything, but the who seemed to be carved into his memory.

"Thanks, Buck, that could be useful. I wouldn't count the remnants of Hydra out for possible involvement in whatever is going on, or at least some of what's going on. There have been pockets that we've been taking out ever since DC." Bucky couldn't recall exactly where all the bases were, but he knew somehow that Hydra had contingency plans for everything, and had plans for if they were ever exposed in one place and who was the next in the chain of command. He also had aversions to certain places as he started traveling through Europe and suspected it likely had to do with proximity to Hydra sites.

"I know, I've been trying to keep clear of them all since DC, at least the ones that I could remember." It was why he'd hidden out in Switzerland for a while, not a strong Hydra presence there. Same with Romania. Sokovia though, he knew Hydra had infiltrated that country's government back in the 1990s and had a fairly large base there. Often recruiting disillusioned or angry citizens scarred by wars and unrest, most of which Hydra had created in the first place. And Bucky would have wagered to guess that none of those people had any idea Hydra was behind whatever they were signing up to do.

"I've got a few minutes to spare, how's the remembering going? How are you doing?" Bucky smiled and sighed. He knew Steve cared, but it was nice to have that knowledge reinforced.

"It's alright. I've been reading up on everything I can on the internet. Had a neighbor show me what the best grocery store in the neighborhood was. Been reading the stuff you sent me. Thank Bruce for me too, if you get a chance. I sometimes feel like I should be doing something else. Something more. Helping you or something. But I've also been feeling relaxed just settling in." Bucky thought about telling Steve more, but he sounded in a hurry, and perhaps Bucky wasn't quite ready to share the details yet of getting to know his neighbor. One, in case it all kind of faded away once Darcy's boss returned and she no longer had heaps of free time to spend with his battered self. And two, for the moment, having it be something he didn't have to explain or question was very nice. He didn't know if the Avengers would need to background check anyone he spent too much time with. He didn't want that mucking up something simple. She hadn't asked him too many personal questions, so he didn't ask her either. They were just hanging out watching movies and eating together, talking about other things like the neighborhood and the movies they watched and music. He was quickly learning about entertainment he'd missed simply by listening to her talk about music and shows and then looking those things up online after she left.

"That's good. Try to stay relaxed. Take in whatever you can that has nothing to do with whatever madness is going on here. Just find yourself again, whoever that is now. I can tell you, there is still a lot of the Bucky I remember there. You just have to sort all the pieces however works for you." Steve didn't always express himself well in words, but it was plenty well enough for Bucky to know exactly what he meant. And the words felt almost as good as actually getting a hug from his best friend. And in the past couple weeks, even if Bucky didn't recall all the times and places and things that composed he and Steve's history and friendship, he definitely recalled what Steve meant to him.

"Thanks. Let me know how things go in Europe." He still worried about Steve not recalling half a day, and the things he'd overheard about this thing they were tracking. He wanted to know how things were going without stepping on any toes either. They'd already done so much for him.

"Will do." Bucky left it there, not sure how else to reply that wouldn't likely slow Steve down, and he knew the Avengers had a lot on their plates right now. If they were on the move again, he wanted to let them get it done.


	15. Girl Come Down from the Castle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing has been very slow. I'm feeling a little disconnected from the fandom and people. But I'm trying and I realized it's been a month since I posted the last chapter, and I have this and like one more chapter that I think/hope are done, since I'm about to post this one. But yeah, I've definitely spent my lead and writing has not been happening as fast or as easy as it was when I started posting this part back in May. But hopefully it won't take forever to finish.

Steve and the team had landed in Sokovia during the night. Natasha had found some clues in some old Shield files that pointed to some suspected Hydra activity near the capitol of Sokovia. Hydra had been smart though, even as it took root deep inside Shield, they had not made all of their information or secret bases known. Natasha suspected they used codes that changed frequently to reference certain secret installations so that if anything like what happened, happened it wouldn't compromise the whole operation.

Their plan was to go in quiet and undercover, but it seemed the city was already in chaos. Some people were fleeing as fast as they could, any way that they could. Others though, they seemed to shuffle through the streets lost. Distant eyes, some in tears. They weren't sure what had happened, but something clearly had.

"We were home for just a few days, what happened?" Steve knew chaos could come at any time, but it still felt surprising.

"I don't know. I guess those quiet murmurers around town about something seeming off were not wrong." Natasha shook her head. Surprised, but perhaps less so.

"We thought Hydra might be up to something, but what does Hydra get from creating panic chaos in the city?" Maybe looking for sense in Hydra's actions was futile, but as twisted as Hydra was, they usually seemed to have some kind of method to their madness.

"Might just be a test run for something bigger later."

"Well, there's a nice thought."

Natasha shrugged, perhaps she did tend to see the darker side of things.

"Sir? Sir? What's happening?" Steve tried to get the attention of a middle-aged man who looked slightly stunned, but aware enough to be looking around him, and seemed to look toward the hill the castle sat on.

The man took a moment to seem to register anyone was speaking, and then another to seem to recognize the Captain America uniform. "You help? Girl come down from castle. They do experiments. People no want to see it. But they do experiments. Prey on angry and afraid young people. Girl not girl any more."

"We are here to try and help. Someone in the castle experiments on the city's youth?" Steve stood firm but kept his expression softer.

"Yes. For years. Ever since Cold War." The man stood close to them, speaking with a modest hush to his voice.

"I had heard things. That the government was being influenced by outside forces." Natasha figured there was validity to the claims, but not to what extent. But she'd certainly done many jobs in her past life as an assassin all over Eastern Europe. While the Russians officially pulled back from those countries, it didn't mean they didn't continue to try exerting whatever control they still could. She figured the same was true of Hydra.

"Yes. Many want to deny this. But it always true. I see it happen. They always making disorder and blaming others so we all fight each other and not them. The young did not see it start. They not believe. They just want fighting to end. To see Sokovia at peace and strong on it own."

"What do you mean the girl is not girl? Do you know what they did to her?" Having been taken and turned into an assassin as a child, Natasha knew the possibilities were endless for what the right, or perhaps wrong, training and experimentation could turn a young girl into in just a few years time.

The man shook his head. "She was just girl who live here. Her folks die years ago in attacks in city. She and her brother angry, like many others. Year ago they not seen again. They went to castle. She come back now. But she not just girl. Everyone hurt around her."

"Is she attacking people?" Steve was focused on what the man shared, but he kept scanning the scene around them. People still moved around them. A random car sped by while people trying to move through the streets on foot tried to avoid being hit.

"No. Or maybe. Not attack like with knife or gun. But she glow red and people hurt inside. Some maybe die. Many seem not like them anymore. I do not know what they do to her. I would have said impossible before. But Avengers prove many impossibles now possible." The man shuddered slightly and seemed to try to steel his stance.

"Can we help you get somewhere? Or to someone?" Steve would have offered even if the man hadn't had much to say. But given his help, Steve felt the least they could do was try to help get this man and his family out of harms way.

"I look for my family. I was at work. They at home that way." The man pointed further into the city.

"Is there a street or landmark to look for? We can go look for them for you." Most were moving away from the city center, and in the opposite direction of the hills and castle.

"No, I must find them." The man shook his head.

Steve somehow figured that would be the man's response. "Why don't we go with you, we should head that way anyway and see what is happening in the center of town."

The man nodded and began to lead the way.


	16. That Didn't Make Her Feel Better

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still in a bit of a writing lag. Could probably use a good chat about characters, but trying to get my brain to do that on its own. Hoping this lag will shift back into a more creative flow soon. I don't like lags.

Early Thanksgiving morning Darcy got a cluster of texts. A couple from friends or family wishing her a Happy Thanksgiving, which she responded with the same. Then there was finally a reply from Jane. She read the text while getting the pumpkin pie baking. She was giving James a little time to do work things and shower that morning. She'd made the cranberry sauce last night after returning from across the hall to shower and go to bed. Since it was just the two of them, they were making turkey breasts rather than a whole turkey, and then mashing some potatoes. It wasn't going to be the full day cooking affair some Thanksgivings were, but that was good. She sure didn't need anything fancy, it was just nice not to be alone.

The text from Jane read, "Yeah, the going theory is something, likely an Asgardian, disrupted the building and the people in it Halloween night. Causing several people to have some memory loss, and just about everyone to wake up feeling a bit fuzzy is the word being used. Except Dr. Banner who seems to have felt agitated that night."

"Does Thor know who is responsible? Why would some Asgardian want to do that?" She felt like she had a million questions, not the least of which was why she seemed to have some of the stranger effects from the night, but she didn't know how to word that in a text.

"He says he has a shortlist and is going to confer again with Heimdall today. There's also some strange energy spikes that are a bit different in Europe. The rest of the Avengers are looking into what's going on there. I'm trying to pin down the similarities and differences, and the patterns. There actually seems to be a bit of regular low-level activity in your area of the city most nights. Is there anything strange going on in the Bronx that you've noticed?" Darcy had to snicker a little to herself.

"Other than having some strange dreams, no, nothing out of the ordinary." The neighborhood had seemed relatively calm. In the back of her mind, she wondered if her weird dreams were connected.

"Strange dreams. Hmm. And they started after Halloween? Have you done more of that sleeping with your eyes open thing? Because that was freaky." That made Darcy smile for a moment.

"They did start after Halloween. I don't think I've had more eye open sleeping. But most nights I'm dreaming about a strange city that seems otherworldly. Old but futuristic all at once. And I've had flashes of a blond woman wearing green." She could feel her stomach tighten as she typed.

"That sounds a little weird. And I'd almost think that could describe Asgard. Have you seen a large golden tower at the center of the city? Or a round building that seems to sit at the edge of the world?" Jane's reply gave Darcy pause. Those were definitely things from her dream. But why would she be seeing Asgard in her dreams?

"Yes. Jane? How is that possible?" Somehow her mind felt like it was racing, yet frozen at the same time.

"I don't know, but I'll ask Thor about it. Maybe it'll help him figure things out. I'll let you know whatever I find." Darcy hoped they'd find some real answers soon, and that they wouldn't forget to let her know about it. Jane could get pretty lost in her research and sometimes even eating and sleeping slipped her mind. It was probably why Darcy still had a job.

"Please do. I'm trying to have a nice quiet Thanksgiving, but now I'm a little concerned." She was looking forward to the day with James. It sounded nice and relaxing, but she couldn't stop the prickly sensation going through her body.

"Asgard was a nice place. It might not mean much other than you maybe seem like you could have been more highly affected by whatever possibly attacked the Tower that night." Jane's text was almost slightly soothing until the attack part.

"Attacked?! Is that the word we're using now?" Darcy stood up and started pacing her floor while typing out her reply.

"Well, maybe? Thor does think it was some kind of aggressive action probably targeted at the Avengers." Maybe she was just in the wrong place and whatever it was there was an epicenter or something. The closer a person was, the more affected they were? Darcy could hope, maybe? Assuming there weren't some kind of terrible consequences of that.

"I suppose if some otherworldly being was going to target someone on Earth, it would be the Earth's mightiest heroes." Though she still didn't know what it meant for her.

"I'm sorry you seem to have wound up in the collateral damage. I promise I'll keep you updated. In the meantime, try to relax and enjoy your day." Darcy sighed and closed her eyes for a moment before moving to reply.

"Thanks, Jane." When no further replies came immediately, Darcy set her phone down and sat back with a deep breath.


	17. Help

They had found the man's family. They were in their home, afraid to leave. His wife was dazed, seeming confused, but alive, and his teenage son seemed alright aside from being afraid. Steve and Natasha helped get them out of the city. Other people were talking about the same thing. The girl from the city who came down from the castle just before nightfall and chaos seemed to follow in her wake. The team was trying to get all the people out of the city while trying to figure out where this girl everyone spoke of had gone. None of them had laid eyes on her yet, despite Tony, Rhodey, and even Sam coming along and taking to the air to get a better view, plus Clint wandering through every nook, cranny, and perch while Steve, Natasha, Maria, and several of the Tower's trusted security crew combed the streets. Banner had been left at the Tower, since he felt uneasy about the possibility of an uncontrollable Hulk-out given his feelings at Halloween, even though they weren't sure this was actually the same thing. But it worked out since they needed someone at the Tower to respond to any issues Bucky might have. Plus, Bruce seemed to be on the line daily now with Erik and Jane discussing what they were finding.

Steve and Natasha had spread out a bit, everyone had radio contact as they searched. He could hear shifts in the sounds around him and that shift was itself moving. Steve followed it until he spotted a girl giving off a red glow as people she encountered fled from her if they could or were hit with a sort of red smoke trail after which they appeared dazed and confused stumbling off or even simply dropping to sit on the ground. Steve paused to check one of the people on the ground, like the man’s wife, dazed though this one seemed oblivious to Steve’s presence maybe because they had just been hit.

“Steve, I have eyes on her she’s coming towards me.” Natasha’s voice came through the coms channel.

“I see her too, I’m behind her, at the southwest corner of the city plaza.” Steve scanned the area for Natasha’s position.

They spotted each other and moved in. Natasha was spotted right away and hit with a red glow that knocked her back and she was slow to move. Steve got closer when the girl turned and he caught eye contact as he was about to strike. He was knocked across the plaza but didn’t feel dazed. Standing back up he saw the girl continuing away down one of the streets and a young man with white hair staring at him.

“Why are you here, Captain America?” The young man's face read uncertainty.

“Thanks for knocking me out of the way of whatever that energy is. We're here to try to help. We heard something strange was happening here.” Steve's gaze moved around, scanning the plaza, keeping tabs on Natasha as she moved slowly and somewhat haphazardly. He'd have gone over to her by now, but something told him, a gut instinct perhaps, that this young man was someone he wanted to talk to further. That it might help their cause.

“A few days ago I would have taken you for the enemy, but I’m not sure of anything now.” He, too, scanned the plaza, seeming to take stock of the state of the people around them. He shook his head a little and Steve could tell there was a part of him that still felt hesitant.

So, Steve hoped to show this kid that they really did want to help. “Do you know what happened here? Or who the girl is?”

"She's not herself." He shook his head looking off beyond Steve with an expression that, to Steve, appeared to be holding back tears.

“A local man said she came from the castle, but that she was from the city before she joined with a group based in the castle.” Steve saw Maria enter the plaza and nodded towards Natasha’s position.

"We thought they were helping us. We thought they wanted to help Sokovia. So we signed up to help, to have them test some formula to enhance us. I think we were the only ones to survive the tests. And when my sister started acting strangely a couple of weeks ago, I began to see they were never on our side. They were only using us for their own purposes and they have been manipulating Sokovia and its people for longer than I've been alive. And maybe the things they have been feeding the people about the outside world is not the truth. Just like when Sokovia was under the Communist regime for all those years. People only know as much as was allowed in. I don't know if they did something else to my sister recently. I didn't notice them doing any tests on her. But she is not herself. It is like something has possessed her. I can always feel her, but I don't so much now. Only a little, it is very faint." His fists clenched and released several times as he spoke and shifted his weight. His voice was low and laced with a multitude of emotions.

“She’s your sister? Is it Hydra in the castle?” Steve looked toward the castle on the hill, hoping for some kind of breakthrough in this mess they were in.

“I don’t know who they really are. She is my sister. Her name is Wanda. I’m Pietro. Can you really help us? Help her?” Pietro grabbed Steve’s arm a moment, without seeming to think about the action, then pulled it away even quicker.

“I’m Steve. We want to help, there are strange things happening all over.” Steve tried for a reassuring smile, though he wasn’t sure he quite hit the mark. He hoped to find out if this was connected to what happened at Halloween, but it was possibly not, maybe just Hydra seeing an opening to create their own disaster. “What can you tell me about your sister that might help us stop and help her? You have speed, what abilities are what she gained from the experiments and what is unusual from the past couple of weeks?”

“I’m not sure what I can tell you that is useful. The powers are hers from the experiments but she’s never used them like this before. They are more advanced than before. She can move things with her mind, read feelings and sometimes thoughts, mine anyway. She said a month ago that she was finding how to mess with the mind of others. They had her practicing that. But she had trouble reading those in charge of us. They had some kind of mental block protection. They said it was for everyone’s safety while she learned her abilities, I have my doubts now.” Pietro appeared troubled as he spoke. Steve wondered if the young man was blaming himself for what was happening to his sister.

“She sounds very powerful. Do you have any ideas on how to approach her?”

“She hasn’t messed with my mind when I’ve tried to get to her, but she does knock me away. I keep hoping that means she has some kind of control still or something. I’m not sure how to stop her, but I have to help her. I need to save her.” Pietro looked toward the street Wanda had disappeared down.

"Let us regroup a little and we'll do whatever we can to help you and your sister." Steve spoke with Captain America level confidence as best as he could at the moment and got a cautious nod from Pietro.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I haven't written the next chapter yet. I have like three sentences and some vague thoughts on what the scene should include. I'm hoping maybe I'll manage to get it written so that I can at least keep with this new once a month kind of pace I seem to be on with this story.


	18. So Close, But Not Quite There

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I just finished this chapter. Hopefully, it flows well. Unlike with most others, I am not getting to read through it several times over, days and even weeks after writing it along with several other chapters to make sure I like the flow before posting it. We're flying by the seat of our pants now, here. You'd think I'd be used to that by now.
> 
> Really sorry it's taken this long to get something up though, and I really wanted to get the next chapter up before the end of this month.

By noon Darcy was across the hall at Bucky's. He'd made sure the kitchen was nice and clean and ready for them to cook dinner. He hadn't heard anything from Steve, which he hoped was a good sign and not a bad one for whatever was going on in Europe. Having Darcy over and planning to cook was a good distraction, though cooking didn't really happen until the late afternoon. Up until then, they hung out and watched movies. It was almost crazy sometimes how easy it was for Bucky to forget everything else when Darcy was near.

“Okay, you got those potatoes mashed in no time.” Darcy laughed because it probably would have taken her four times as long, maybe more. It was basically the time it took her to pull the turkey breasts out, turn off the oven, and set the pan on the counter and Bucky had the potatoes all nicely mashed.

“They were soft and half ready to fall apart already.” Bucky shrugged, though he supposed the super-strength may have helped. He hadn’t been trying to mash them fast. He’d have to pay attention to those things if he wanted to seem normal. Fortunately, she didn’t seem to question it, simply seemed amused.

“Well, then maybe a little more butter and salt and we’re ready to eat.” She had set out the cranberry sauce she made, and the pie was ready as well, though they’d decided they could wait to cut into it until after the dinner portion.

Bucky dropped in a touch more butter and salt and made sure it got distributed through the potatoes. “I hope it’s not weird to say, I’m kind of glad that you didn’t find anything else to do today.”

“It’s not weird. I’m glad you didn’t either. This is a nice, quiet Thanksgiving, and I’m not feeling like I’m missing anything else. I’m just happy being here.” They’d only been a couple steps from each other to begin with, but they had inched closer. Darcy smiled soft and easy at him and brushed a hand down his arm.

“Good, because I can’t think of a nicer way to spend this or any other day.” Bucky’s hand reached out and rested at the small of her back as she’d finished speaking, and as he spoke he felt her leaning into him. She was so close, her face was so close to his. He still hesitated, afraid of making too many moves at a time. Afraid of still scaring her off. It wasn’t like she really knew who he was. Not that he was lying, well, about anything other than his job, but he was obscuring things, like his arm and all things associated with it. But he wanted so much to keep her close, to not lose her. Especially when she smiled at him like she was, her cheeks all pink, lips full and a bit red, even though she wasn’t wearing any makeup today. And her eyes, soft and deep blue, with a little shine at the moment.

Darcy curled her arms around his shoulders and hugged him close. Her voice came out as little more than a breath on his ear. “Can I say you’re what I’m thankful for today?”

Bucky couldn’t manage to find words for that, but his arms wrapped all the way around her and held on tight as he let his face get a little lost in her neck.

It took them a minute or two to straighten up again and actually get to eating. They kept teetering on the edge of going a little farther, but something kept stopping it. They cuddled, hugged, got very close, but hadn't kissed.

Darcy felt like her life was a bit of a confused mess, so she figured she shouldn't rush. She'd actually thought she'd been cautious before she casually asked Steve out, but that kind of went sideways on her anyway. So she didn't really trust her own judgment, especially after Halloween, and maybe having weird dreams of Asgard now. None of that added up to normal, and she had no idea how to even begin trying to explain any of it, given she didn't understand it herself.


	19. Asgardian Tower Meeting

Thor had checked in with Jane before heading back to the Tower. He felt like he needed more help, so Heimdall had put a call out to Sif and the Warriors Three, all of whom had been somewhat scattered on various tedious jobs ever since the mess with the Dark Elves. 

Bruce wandered in, unaware that there was an Asgardian meeting getting underway. "Oh, hey, sorry guys. Do you need the room?"

"No, no, stay if you like. Maybe you can help. We're trying to assess what we know so far." Thor smiled and moved to pat Bruce on the shoulder.

Bruce nodded and allowed himself to be ushered in further by Thor. "Well, most of the team is in Sokovia right now. There's a girl whose brother says she's not herself. She's got some serious power though, so bringing her in is proving tough."

"Jane's been tracking energy readings there. She says they are different from what's happening on the East Coast here, but there is definitely something powerful at work there too. Do they want me to come help?" Thor didn't want to just abandon his search, but if they needed more power, he would go without another thought to aid the team.

"Not yet. They have a plan. But if it fails, maybe." Bruce finally stopped and actually looked at each of the faces looking at him. They seemed friendly enough, but he couldn't help feeling a bit anxious. Of course, Thor gave his back a pat and side hugged him. It was funny how much tension that made him let go of.

"Everyone this is Bruce Banner. He's a scientist. Bruce, this is Sif, Heimdall, and the Warriors Three, Volstagg, Hogun, and Fandral." Thor pointed as he went, as Bruce nodded and smiled slightly.

Volstagg stepped forward. "Hello. Always good to meet one of Thor's friends. We hope you don't mind us meeting here."

"Thor said this would be a good meeting location. We promise we won't be long and we'll get out of your way." Sif immediately followed with a gentle smile as Heimdall and Hogun just nodded and Fandral smiled big.

"Hi. I don't mind. I just didn't know and didn't want to interrupt. You're welcome to use the Tower as a meeting place while you're here." Bruce's smile grew as Sif spoke, feeling all but the most low-level tension wash out of his body.

Thor smiled at Bruce once more before his attention shifted to the group. "We have a shortlist, and I believe one of those people is looking like a front-runner to me."

"If Loki weren't dead, I'd have voted it was him screwing around with us." Bruce blurted it out. After everything they'd gone through with Loki the previous year, Bruce figured the only thing that would stop Loki from coming after them again was dying.

"Actually, are we really sure Loki's dead?" Fandral wondered aloud.

"Of course he's dead. They found a body." Volstagg waved a hand shaking his head until the looks on everyone else's faces made him reconsider.

"I never saw the body after I left him on Svartalfheim, and I am beginning to wonder now. Odin claimed to not want a drawn-out funeral given Loki’s status as a prisoner." Thor had taken his father's word on that after believing he’d watched Loki die with his own eyes, but ever since then, Odin had been dodging those closest to him. For a while everyone, including Thor, wrote it off as Odin's grieving process after the deaths of Frigga and Loki, but he was beginning to question that.

"Wait! So you think this is Loki and he's alive?" Bruce visibly jumped.

"No. I mean, he might be alive, but I still think the culprit of this mess might be someone else. Unless they're working together." Though in his mental wandering he'd failed to mention the suspect's name. Thor rubbed his hand on Bruce's back, knowing the havoc Loki had caused his fellow Avengers. He didn't blame them, or anyone else, for how they felt. They'd never gotten to see anything other than the bad side of Loki.

"I do believe Loki has done something to displace Odin. It would explain a lot about the muddled vision I've had around Odin. I do not know what has happened to Odin though." Heimdall finally spoke and everyone seemed to turn to listen.

"Loki and Amora don't care much for one another. I do believe Loki has been pretending to be Odin for the past year, ever since Loki's apparent death. No one ever saw a body returned, and ever since has anyone here, anyone who used to be close with Odin actually been allowed to speak to him?" Thor too had believed his brother dead until a couple of days ago when he finally thought to ask Heimdall about Odin's day to day activities and Heimdall said Odin's activities had been hazy to him ever since Loki died.

"Only briefly, once, when he tasked me with daily check-ins with Asgardian regional leaders to make sure the world remained secure." Volstagg scratched his head as he considered the past year's events.

"We all got busy work after that. Mine wasn't even delivered in person. One of the Einherjar told me I was to take a ship out and maintain a patrol around the vicinity of Asgard, and was only permitted to stop in once a month. And I've been threatened with treason charges should I not comply in full." Fandral's eyes had narrowed as he looked around at the others.

"Same, only I was sent farther out after Volstagg and I returned from Knowhere." Her hands had taken up residence on her hips as Sif was taking in the new bits of information.

"Knowhere?" Bruce was curious, but a bit confused.

"There is a place called Knowhere." Sif's smile was gentle toward Bruce, to which he nodded and perhaps his cheeks pinked slightly.

"I was told to remain on Vanaheim and keep watch on my people. I didn't question it until now." Hogun had been happy to have the time to spend on his home planet with family and old friends. So much he hadn't thought to inquire more deeply as to what was happening on Asgard. 

"Not that I disagree, but what lead you to think what's happening here on Midgard is Amora's doing?" Fandral knew it was certainly in the realm of reason, he was just curious.

"There are not too many capable of magic on the level to obscure my vision. Loki and Amora are on a shortlist. Loki I believe has been otherwise occupied masquerading as Odin on Asgard. I doubt he'd be able to blur my vision of Midgard as well. Though perhaps." Heimdall wasn't wearing his usual armor, and tilted his head as he finished speaking. Which made everyone else shift a bit. Heimdall being uncertain about something made everyone a touch uneasy.

"Also, one of my human friends said she has been seeing Asgard and a blond woman wearing green in her dreams. Which sounds like Amora. Heimdall says he sees something curious in that particular human friend." When Jane told him about what Darcy had been dreaming it felt like a point in the right direction. Though Thor wasn't completely sure why Darcy was seeing such things.

Everyone looked to Heimdall and he took a deep breath before speaking. "I know and see a great many things. Mysteries are strange for me. But there is a mystery here. I do know Amora though, and I do believe she is the one making this trouble on Midgard, and that Thor's human friend might be part of her interests here."

"Didn't you have a relationship with her long ago?" Fandral said it before he thought about it.

"I did." Heimdall nodded with a rather serious demeanor.

"The energy signatures we believe to be associated with Amora have been around the east coast of this continent. Largely around this city. There was a large spike about a month ago during a holiday called Halloween. And the people who attended a party here in this building that night all felt strange afterward. I believe Amora was doing her magic, we just don't know to what end." Thor hadn't been at the party, he'd been on Asgard meeting with Heimdall regarding his growing concerns about his vision feeling impaired at times.

"So this Asgardian woman made everyone feel weird at Halloween. Made Steve forget his whole night? Made me all agitated?" Bruce took a couple of deep breaths to keep from fidgeting too much. Sif's well-placed hand on his shoulder and her attempt at a comforting smile did actually help though.

"I believe so, yes. So we should go out looking for her. Do our best to keep the people of Midgard unaware of what's happening. But if you have a shot to catch her, do it." Thor hoped to keep from making a mess on this planet. He didn't want casualties. Amora often was out for more domination than destruction, but she certainly didn't worry about if people other than herself got hurt in the process.

"I'm getting some obscured vision when I try to look outside the city center here. Particularly to the North of the City. I would begin the search there." Heimdall nodded and got a nod in return from them all, even Bruce nodded, before the Asgardians started shifting to get underway.

Sif stopped short of starting to walk away though."Shouldn't we be finding a way to see if it is Loki impersonating Odin?"

"We will. I might have an idea for that. But I want to get this search underway first." Thor had to deal with one Asgardian sorcerer at a time.

"I hope they aren't working together." Fandral shook his head as the Warriors Three made their way into the Elevator.

"I hope not too." Thor nodded, glancing first at Heimdall before trying to make his expression more comforting when he looked at Bruce.


	20. Hit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's a short one.

Steve took a position along a side street as the sun was beginning to set, where he could see Pietro, but hopefully Wanda, and whatever might be possessing her, wouldn't see him. Everyone was positioned around the area within a couple of blocks. They had spotted the trail of Wanda and moved to head her off. Pietro was the one who would try to talk to her, but they weren't counting on that to work. He was a distraction mostly so they could hopefully subdue her.

"Wanda! Please hear me." Pietro had speed in and stopped in Wanda's path.

When she, or whatever was possessing her, turned attention toward Pietro, Clint loosed an arrow. It would have landed right in her leg if she hadn't turned and dropped it, and Clint, to the ground.

"I know you're still in there! Please, I know you are strong enough to fight whatever is making you do this." Pietro tried to draw back the attention. Steve glanced to see Maria hurry in to get Clint out of the area as soon as Wanda's attention turned.

It did seem like she hesitated to engage or attack Pietro, the swirl of red around her seemed to lessen when she focused on him. She still reached out and knocked him back with a blast, but it did look different. Pietro shifted and looked over at Steve, clearly still mentally intact. Wanda was about to continue past when she turned to see Steve.

The blast of red hit him before he could raise his shield. The way it moved, it may not have mattered anyway.

Everything went red and blurry for a bit. He had some sensation of walking around as he went, though he wasn't quite sure where he was or where he was going. One voice lead to another sensation which lead to another person and another voice. The first images that ran through his mind looked a bit like the Halloween Party. It was flashes and words and sensations before his mind turned to Bucky and then the Avengers. Then around to the party and specifically Darcy. 

As to if it was a memory or some jumbled collection of constructed thoughts, feelings, and images, Steve couldn't tell.


End file.
